The Avatar's Story: Recognition
by Kaiser Zero
Summary: What would have happened if the avatars actually played a role in White Knight Chronicles apart from just fighting? What if the avatars had their own story? A recap of the story through the eyes of the Avatar with a twist *AU*
1. Disclaimer and Notes

**Disclaimer: I do not own White Knight Chronicles or its characters. White Knight Chronicles and White Knight Chronicles II, it's characters or story are copyright of their original owners. This story is not for monetary value.**

From Author: This is my first Fan fiction, just to get that out there right off the bat. This fanfic follows the main story of White Knight Chronicles I &amp; II through the eyes of the avatar I created from the game itself. The primary difference here is that this fanfic gives the avatar a backstory, and how I believe the game SHOULD have gone, and it will make more sense the more you read it. I DID have to change various parts of the main story but mostly, up to a certain point, it remains unchanged. This fanfic has spoilers from the main game so don't read if you never played the game and intend to at some point.

IMPORTANT: Until this Fan Fiction's ultimate completion, and as I proof read it multiple times, there may be little changes to the story please keep this in mind, in other words if you see a sentence missing or words changed around you are **NOT** crazy...or are you?


	2. Bedridden

Chapter 1: Bedridden

It has been nearly three months since the war of the Magi and the world had finally returned to peace. In the Kingdom of Balandor an elderly man was sitting at a desk writing a chronicle of the adventures of himself and his companions...

"The Great Awakening…

Wizel, White Warrior…

Dinivas, Deliverer of Dark and Dread…

Larvayne, Vermillion Drake…

Luthia, Argent Goddess…

And Adolmaea, Shining Sovereign…

When these five Incorruptus were brought together, they returned the Emperor of Yshrenia, Madoras, back into this world…"

"Lord Eldore!" a young knight yelled as he came running out of breath toward the elderly man

"What is it?" Eldore said curiously as he stood up and faced the knight, who was gasping for breath.

"W-We…found…" the knight said in-between breaths

"Calm down and catch your breath," Eldore said in his normal calm collected voice, and then said "Now, what is it you found?"

"At the Garmatha Fortress Ruins," the knight started again after catching his breath, "We found this."

As the knight finished his sentence he held up what seemed to be three broken pieces of a sword, however what it looked like originally was lost due to the elements. However despite its current condition Eldore knew what it was, and who it belonged to.

Eldore put on a half-smile but spoke in a very stern voice, "Where in the ruins did you find this?"

"I personally do not know Milord," the knight paused, "But I was told to bring you to the ruins because we found something else…"

"Very well," Eldore said calmly, "Let us go."

The young knight then led Eldore to the royal pier where they then took a boat to the ruins of the floating fortress Garmatha also passing the remains of the Demithor that petrified itself to protect Balandor. When the fortress hit the water it broke into many pieces, and many of them sunk to the bottom however the main part of the fortress somehow managed to stay afloat. Upon reaching the fortress itself Eldore departed and entered a small hole that an excavation team created in order to explore and hopefully salvage some parts of it, for what reasons remained unknown even to Eldore.

"Lord Eldore," an excavator and researcher said as he walked up to Eldore, "We are glad you could make it."

"Glad I could make it," Eldore replied, "So what is it you found?"

"Right this way and I'll show you," the man said as he pointed down a tunnel and started walking leading Eldore, "Lady Framboise is waiting for you as well."

"She is here?" Eldore asked puzzled, "Why?"

"It is best if I show you…" the man said slowly as he continued walking

During the walk Eldore noticed that a lot of similar tunnels were still blocked by debris and that crews are working to get them excavated. A short time later Eldore and the researcher arrived at a wide open area, a place that Eldore knew well; it was where he and the rest of the group battled Madoras. The ground had crumbled greatly and very few places remained where they could walk, but was still stable despite its looks.

"This place…" Eldore said as he put on a frown

"Yes..." the man replied

"So what about it?" Eldore asked curiously

"It is not exactly this place, it is what's below it," the man said as he pointed at a ladder leading down

Eldore and the researcher then made their way down and followed a short tunnel, which had water up to their ankles as below the room the rest of the fortress was submerged, until they ran into Framboise herself along with a group of researchers, who were looking at, as well as studying, a barrier that blocked their progress.

"I have brought him Lady Framboise," the man announced

"Eldore!" Framboise exclaimed as she turned around to face Eldore

"So this is what you needed to see me for Framboise?" Eldore asked as he looked at the barrier

"Yes!" Framboise yelled slightly angry, then in a normal voice, "Because of this stupid thing we can't go any farther, and who knows what is beyond it."

Just as Framboise finished her sentence the barrier seemed to grow in intensity and size, so much so that everyone, including Eldore had to move away. But being a master of magic Eldore knew how to break such a barrier.

"Stand back," Eldore said as he raised his hands and placed them on the barrier itself

"What are you doing?" Framboise asked frantically

"Be silent I must concentrate…" Eldore commanded

Eldore closed his eyes and started to mutter some words under his breath, and shortly afterward the barrier started to decrease in size and began to fade. Eldore walked forward as the barrier receded as if he was taming the barrier itself, until it disappeared entirely.

"There it is done," Eldore said triumphantly

"Now let us see what goodies we can find, and then-" Framboise started to say

Before Framboise could continue another barrier sprung up however this was much weaker and it faded just as fast as it came. Pressing onward, with Framboise in the lead, walked further down the tunnel and after a short walk Eldore and Framboise noticed something on the ground that was very familiar to the both of them.

"It can't be!" Eldore and Framboise both said at the same time

On the ground they saw a grey orb with gold embroidery that was glowing faintly, both Eldore and Framboise knew to whom it belonged.

"If this is here…" Framboise started

"…than where is-?" Eldore started to finish Framboise's sentence

Before Eldore could say another word a void portal opened and swallowed the team of researchers, Eldore and Framboise included, into it. On the other side the team found themselves on a floating platform in the middle of nowhere with the portal that led them to the said space fade until it was gone. However what surprised them the most is what was floating high above them on the same platform: A young girl with silver hair slightly below her shoulders with a slim build, the armor she was wearing was rent, a pale shadow of what it was, as well as having many cuts, bruises, and burns on the visible parts of her body. To his horror and surprise Eldore knew exactly who he was looking at.

"ANIYA!" Eldore screamed however there was no response

"Oh my…" Framboise said with her voice trembling, "What happened to her?"

"It doesn't matter now," Eldore started, "Right now we need to get her out of here."

As Eldore finished speaking, and as if in response to his wishes, Aniya's body started to descend until it was only several feet above the ground. Eldore slowly approached the young girl and looked around for anyone, or anything, else in the area. When he got close enough he put his arms under her body as if to catch her, and again as if in response whatever was holding Aniya let go and placed her gently into Eldore's arms.

"Let's go home Aniya…" Eldore said softly as he held the girl gently

There was no response from Aniya, her body seemed completely lifeless but she was warm to the touch and she still had a pulse.

"How do we get out of here?" Framboise asked frantically

As Framboise finished her question, a void portal opened however this one a milky white color, and did not suck the group in like the original one did.

"Let's go!" Eldore said fearlessly as he walked through the portal with Framboise and the rest of her team following shortly after

The group found themselves back where they started, where the original portal had sucked them in with the grey orb still where they had seen it.

"I am taking her to Balandor," Eldore said as he started to walk away still carrying Aniya

"What about that?" Framboise said as she pointed at the orb

"We can't touch it, so just leave it," Eldore commanded

But before Eldore could take another step the orb started to float and move as if it had a will of its own. With blinding speed it put itself in the middle of the team including Eldore and the barrier that Eldore dispelled earlier was up once again revealing that it was the orb that had created it to begin with. Shortly afterward water started to come in from all sides; however the barrier that was put up prevented the water from getting to the group.

"What's going on?" one of the male researchers asked frightened

"I am guessing, the original barrier was preventing this area from being submerged," Framboise said trying to explain the situation

As the water was getting higher the orb started to glow brighter until the entirety of the group in the barrier was engulfed in bright light. Shortly afterward the light started to dim and the group found themselves outside near the boat that Eldore had arrived on. The orb that had transported them had lost its light and fell to the ground, with one of the researchers walking over intending to pick it up.

"Wait! Don't!" Eldore commanded

However, much to Eldore's surprise, nothing happened when the researcher picked it up.

"Why…" Eldore started to say

Before Eldore could continue the entirety of the ruins had started to shake. Leaving no other choice the group, including all researchers and other excavators in the ruins departed and as they were moving away the Garmatha ruins started to sink, and by the time they arrived back at Balandor not one part of it remained above water. Upon disembarking Eldore was the first to get off the boat, followed by Framboise and the rest of the researchers that were with her.

"That...was scary…" Framboise said still trembling

"What do we do now Lady Framboise?" one of the researchers asked

"Well…" Framboise paused, and then said "We may still be able to salvage it somehow…though it will take time."

As Framboise finished her sentence she looked around a little bit and realized that Eldore was walking away still carrying Aniya in his arms.

"Where are you going?" Framboise asked as she started walking behind Eldore

"I am taking her to the doctors…" Eldore replied without turning around

"But she…"

"We owe her much…"

"True, she did save us…"

"And there are things we must ask her…"

As Eldore finished talking he and Framboise turned to the sound of a scream. The researcher that was still carrying the orb yelled as the orb started to glow again, and levitated of its own free will. Seconds later the orb started to float over to Eldore whereupon it stopped only a foot from him and remained for a short time, afterward the orb's light began to fade once again and started to fall, but before it could hit the ground Eldore uttered some words and the orb stopped in the middle of its decent and started to rise again.

"Framboise," Eldore started to say, "Bring that with us…"

Doing as she was told, although still somewhat in shock, Framboise took hold of the orb and placed it into her pouch and continued to follow Eldore as he started to walk away again. Shortly afterward both Eldore and Framboise arrived at Balandor Castle's hospital wing whereupon Eldore requested treatment for Aniya, who was still comatose. Shortly afterward several doctors, both male and female who also appeared to be mages, entered the room and guided Eldore to a different room with a large table whereupon Eldore laid Aniya down and then stepped away.

"Let us begin," one of the female doctors said to the others

Upon the command all doctors in the room started to surround the table where Aniya was laying, raised their arms and started to chant silently. Shortly after starting Aniya's body was started to glow and began to levitate off of the table. One of the doctors stopped chanting and began to move her arms in a pattern, and while she did the remains of Aniya's armor started to come off until she was only in her underclothes and revealed more scars, but some stood out more than others in particular: a large scar in her abdomen as well one on her left shoulder. After seeing the girl's body doctors were in shock, to the point that they stopped what they were doing and Aniya was placed back on the table gently.

"What happened to her?" a doctor asked as she turned toward Eldore and Framboise

"I-I don't know…" Framboise said somewhat in shock at the sight as well

"It was from battle…" Eldore spoke calmly, and then said "It doesn't matter though, just help her…"

"Yes, Lord Eldore," the doctor replied as she turned around and began to chant again

"We should get going," Framboise spoke as she regained her composure, "I still need to study this orb…"

"Yes, let's…" Eldore replied as he walked out the door with Framboise directly behind him

Upon reaching the main hall and before parting ways Framboise questioned Eldore.

"Why does she look like that Eldore?" Framboise asked seriously

"I already said why…" Eldore answered equally serious, and then asked a question of his own, "But why can other people touch that orb?"

"Um…"

"No one should be able to touch that, and you are the one who gave it to her didn't you?"

"I did give it to her, and I'm unsure but I'll find out!" Framboise said enthused

"I'm sure you will," Eldore said with a smile as he started to walk away

…

~Three Days Later~

…

"_I wonder if Aniya is up yet…_" Eldore thought to himself as he got up from a chair in his room and walked out the door

A short walk later Eldore found himself in the main hall once again where he saw one of his comrades.

"Eldore!" a young boy yelled from across the main hall

"Hmm? Leonard?" Eldore said to himself as he turned in the direction of the voice

"How have you been?" Leonard asked as he ran up to Eldore

"I have been fine, and you?"

"Rapacci has been working me to death as usual," Leonard said with a sigh, "I just finished delivering wine with Yulie."

"Is she here too?"

"No, she went back to Parma with Raus."

"I see."

"What are you up to?"

"Hmmm…"

"Uh, something wrong Eldore?"

"I think you should come with me…" Eldore said as he started walking to the hospital wing

"Whoa slow down Eldore!" Leonard said as he tried to keep up

"We found her Leonard…" Eldore said still walking

"You mean?"

"Yes."

"H-how is she?"

"Comatose…I am on my way to see her now."

Another short walk later Eldore and Leonard found themselves in the main room of the hospital wing and walked up to the desk.

"I am here to see Aniya," Eldore said calmly

"I am sorry Lord Eldore," the person behind the desk spoke, "They are still operating on Lady Aniya…"

"It has been three days…"

"Yes, sir but-"

"I will explain," A male voice came from another set of doors and out of them came one of the doctors that Eldore saw before

"How is she!?" Leonard asked impatiently

"Calm down boy," the doctor said raising a hand, "We actually just finished on her, we can do nothing more."

"What do you mean?" Eldore asked sternly

"Please, sit," the doctor said as he pointed to several chairs

Doing as they were told Eldore and Leonard both sat in two chairs opposite of the doctor who sat down sharply as if he had no energy.

"So what happened?" Leonard asked still impatient

"When you brought her to us Lord Eldore we were in shock at what we saw," the doctor said as he faced Eldore, "But it was what we didn't see is what surprised us the most."

"Hmmm?" Eldore muttered as he listened intently

"You see, while her body was mostly intact on the outside, the inside was another story," the doctor continued, "She had many broken bones, almost all others were fractured. And if you remember that scar on her abdomen…Well to put it bluntly, she will never be able to have children because of it."

"I…see…" Eldore said as he half turned his head to Leonard who still had a very serious look on his face

"And despite all this she is still alive," the doctor continued again, "Even the most battle hardened soldiers would have died already from wounds like she sustained."

"So you are saying SOMETHING kept her alive," Eldore said trying to understand

"Exactly," the doctor replied

"Since you are done can we at least see her?" Leonard asked

"Hmmm, I suppose," the doctor said as he got out of his chair, "Follow me."

Eldore and Leonard followed the doctor through the doors that he originally came out from, and into a long corridor. Shortly afterward they came to a room where Aniya, still unconscious, was laying covered from foot to neck.

"Aniya!" Leonard yelled

"Leonard keep your voice down," Eldore said sternly as he grabbed Leonard by his shoulder

"We healed most of her outer scars and mended her broken bones, but it will take time before she can walk again," the doctor explained, "In the mean time we just have to wait until she wakes up."

"Any idea when?" Leonard asked

"No..."

"I see," Eldore started, "Let's go Leonard…"

"Fine…" Leonard answered as he followed Eldore out

…

~Two Weeks Later~

…

"Eldore!" Framboise yelled as she burst through his door out of breath

"What is it Framboise?" Eldore said while seated at his desk with his back to the door

"We need your help!" Framboise said frantically

"Hmm? What is it?" Eldore replied as he got up and faced Framboise quickly

"It's Aniya! Just, follow me quickly!" Framboise said as she turned around and left the doorway

Although struggling slightly to keep up with Framboise, but kept up regardless, Eldore followed her to the hospital wing to where Aniya was resting where a group of doctors had gathered. When Eldore entered Aniya's room he was in shock what he saw: Aniya had a soft glow around her and was up on her own two feet, her hands were at her side and her head was erect as if she was looking at something but her eyes remained closed.

"Aniya?" Eldore asked puzzled

There was no direct reply from Aniya, however she was speaking.

"I'm…sorry…" Aniya uttered softly but loud enough for everyone to hear

"That's all she has been saying," Framboise explained to Eldore, "Nothing else."

"Aniya, can you hear me?" Eldore asked

"I'm…sorry…" Aniya repeated

"Stand back…" Eldore said to those behind him while he approached Aniya slowly

"I'm…sorry…" Aniya repeated again

When Eldore got close enough he put his hands on Aniya's shoulders as if to comfort her.

"It's okay Aniya…" Eldore said softly

"I'm…sorry…"

"Aniya, you are forgiven…" Eldore said softly as if he knew why she was repeating herself, "Please wake up…"

"I'm…sorry…"

Eldore put his head down as if he was defeated, and then spoke "No…we are sorry…"

"El…dore…" Aniya finally said

Shocked at Aniya's change of words Eldore snapped his head up, and spoke "Aniya?"

"El…dore…" Aniya said again slowly, "I'm…sorry…"

Upon finishing her words the glow around Aniya started to fade until it was gone completely, immediately afterward Aniya's body went limp, but as Eldore was near her he caught her in his arms and carried her back to her bed. As he was laying Aniya down Framboise came up behind Eldore.

"What was that?" Framboise asked completely confused

"I am unsure…" Eldore answered slowly as he put the covers over Aniya again, and continued "But I think she regrets what happened three months ago…"

"And what did happen?"

"That does not matter…" Eldore said sternly, "Let's go…"

Framboise followed Eldore who had started walking back to his room in the castle. Eldore along the way had his head down in deep thought the entire time and did not answer anyone who greeted him which was completely unlike him. Upon reaching the room itself Eldore sat down at his desk again, whereas Framboise sat in another a few feet away.

"What's going on Eldore?" Framboise asked cautiously

Eldore remained silent, still in deep thought

"Why did she have so many scars? Why did the Ark protect us in the ruins?" Framboise asked in succession

"You already know the answer to the first question…" Eldore finally said with his head still down, "I don't know why about the other…"

"She traveled with you right?"

"Yes…"

"You kept saying it doesn't matter…" Framboise started, "But it does matter!"

"In time I will tell you Framboise…but not now…" Eldore said sternly as he turned his head to face Framboise

"Hmph, Fine!"

"Speaking of which…" Eldore started, "Did you find out about her Ark?"

"No…" Framboise said with a sad tone, "No one could use it either…"

"But other people could touch it?"

"Yes…"

"We will just have to wait until she awakens completely then…however long that may take…"

…

~A Week and a Half Later~  
~Morning~

…

It has been one month after they had found Aniya at the Garmatha Fortress Ruins. Shortly after the event witnessed by Eldore and the others Queen Cisna had Aniya moved into one of the guest rooms of the castle, with several people visiting her constantly including Eldore, Leonard, and even the doctors that were taking care of her previously, however the event that happened previously did not occur again. In his room Eldore was putting the finishing touches on his chronicle…

"There it is done," Eldore said to himself as he finished writing and closed the book

Almost as if on cue, there was a knock on the door.

"Come in," Eldore spoke to whoever was behind the door

"Hey Eldore," Framboise said as she opened the door and walked in

"Hello Framboise."

"What are you up to?"

"Just finished the book I was making."

"Hmmm, what is it called?" Framboise said curiously

"I don't have a name for it yet…" Eldore paused, "What can I do for you?"

"I am about to go visit Aniya for the day I thought you may want to join me."

"Sure," Eldore said as he got up and started walking towards the door, as he did he noticed what Framboise was carrying, and then spoke "The Ark…"

"Oh yes, I wanted to talk to you about this as well," Framboise spoke in response

"Learn anything?" Eldore said as the two started walking together

"Not really, no…" Framboise said with a disappointed sigh

"I see…" Eldore said equally disappointed

A short walk later, as Aniya's room was not too far away from where Eldore was staying, the two found themselves in front of a door that lead to Aniya's chamber.

"Here we are," Framboise said as she opened the door

In the room where Aniya was resting was rather elegant, almost fit for a queen. Aniya was in a beautiful nightgown with her hands clasped over her stomach, with covers up to her chest. When Eldore and Framboise entered they both had a small smile as they walked up to her bedside.

"She looks so peaceful…" Framboise said with a sad tone as she placed a hand on one of Aniya's cheeks

"That she does," Eldore replied agreeing

As Eldore finished talking the Ark that Framboise was carrying started to faintly glow, pulsing slowly.

"W-What?" Framboise said shocked

Before either of the two could react, the orb started to levitate of its own will, just like it did back at the ruins. The Ark placed itself just above Aniya's body, and the glow started to increase in intensity until the glow filled the room. After a moment the glow subsided and everything is as it was beforehand, with the arc resting on Aniya's chest.

"What was that?" Framboise said still shocked

"I do not know…" Eldore said equally shocked, quickly regaining his composure he finally added "But-"

But before he can utter another word Aniya, to both Eldore and Framboise shock, took a very deep breath and exhaled just as much. After a short pause Aniya started to breath, albeit somewhat erratically, and slightly opened her maroon colored eyes and looked around without moving her head, but was able to view Eldore and Framboise. Looking down on her both guests were still in a state of shock at what unfolded.

"Fram…boise…" Aniya finally spoke, although in a hoarse voice "El…Dore…"

"A-Aniya!?" Eldore finally said breaking out of his shock

"I can't believe it!" Framboise said also breaking out of her shock

"You…guys…" Aniya started to say but was cut short

"W-wait here! I'll go get the doctors!" Framboise said before she bolted out of the room

"W-where…am…I?" Aniya said as she turned her eyes to Eldore

"Shhh, rest…" Eldore said softly as he put his hand on her forehead, "You are in Balandor; you have been asleep for a long while."

"Did..did everyone…get…out?" Aniya said through pained breaths

"Yes, but please Aniya," Eldore said pleading with her, "You need to rest, we can talk later."

"El…dore…" Aniya started, "I must…tell…you…some…something…"

As soon as Aniya finished her sentence she grimaced in pain to the point that she could not speak again, and started to roll back and forth uncontrollably and almost fell off the bed as a result. As this was happening the Ark started to glow again, and after a short while Aniya started to calm down and ended up on her left side. Witnessing what was happening Eldore was, once again, in a state of shock, and when the Ark's glow subsided he picked it up of the ground, as it fell when Aniya moved, and put it on a nearby nightstand. As Eldore turned around to face Aniya again he noticed that she had tears streaming from her eyes, possibly from the pain.

"Hurry! Hurry!" Framboise said as she burst into the room and following her were several doctor-mages

"I will leave you for now Aniya," Eldore said as he turned to leave

"Don't…go…" Aniya said as she tried to raise her arm, "Stay…"

"Okay…just for a little while…" Eldore said as he sighed and turned around then sat down in a chair next to the bed and gently took one of Aniya's hands into his own

"Lady Aniya?" one of the female doctors started to speak, "How do you feel?"

"My…my body…burns…" Aniya answered through pained breaths, "Every…where…hurts…"

"I understand."

With the doctor's words the other doctors went to either sides of the bed, effectively surrounding her.

"Now listen, this is going to hurt a little, but please try and bear it."

Aniya nodded her head slightly but just enough that the doctor was able to see, all the while Eldore still held her hand.

"Let us begin…"

As the doctor finished her sentence she started to chant along with the others, and as they did Aniya started to glow a pale green color. As the doctors were working their magic Aniya grimaced a lot, apparently trying to hold back the pain, but Eldore knew, at least to some degree, how much pain she was in as her grip on his hand tightened greatly.

…

~Some Hours Later~

…

"And there, we are done," the doctor said as she and her fellow doctors finished chanting

"Um…Aniya?" Framboise started to say, "Do you feel better?"

Aniya was silent but still awake as well as still holding onto Eldore's hand, and had tears in her eyes.

"Okay, now it is time for you to rest Aniya," Eldore said as he released her hand

"Thank you doctors," Framboise said with gratitude

"You are welcome," the doctor replied, "but it is best if no one comes around for a while, she needs her rest."

"El…dore…" Aniya said hoarsely between breaths

"Hmmm, what is it Aniya?" Eldore replied

"The…knights…"

"Hmmm?"

"They…weren't…the only…ones…"

After Aniya finished her last sentence she passed out, possibly from the pain, meanwhile Eldore had the look of complete surprise on his face.

"W-what did she mean?" Framboise spoke slightly terrified

"Can you take this conversation elsewhere?" the doctor said sternly

"Yes…" Eldore replied while deep in thought

After Eldore's reply everyone departed the room, first the doctors, then Framboise, and then Eldore but not before taking one look back at Aniya who was sleeping peacefully. In the hallway Eldore and Framboise had a talk about Aniya's cryptic words.

"The five Knights…" Framboise started, "From what you told me there were no others, apart from Madoras', which was a twisted version of the White Knight."

"That is true…" Eldore said still in deep thought

"Then what is going on?"

"We just have to wait until she gets better," Eldore said as he started to walk away, and then added "Until then we just have to be patient…"

"Okay…" Framboise replied as she walked in the opposite direction

…

~Two Days Later~

…

"_She is probably feeling better now…_" Eldore thought to himself as he was walking the corridor to Aniya's room

"Hey Eldore!" Framboise said as she came running from behind Eldore

"Morning Framboise," Eldore replied, "Coming to visit Aniya as well?"

"Yeah, hard to believe it's been two days," Framboise said as she came to a halt

"Yes, time flies," Eldore replied, "Well shall we?"

After Eldore finished and after a short walk Eldore and Framboise ended up in front of Aniya's door once again. Upon opening the door the saw one of the maids tending to Aniya, who was sitting upright and able to move her arms as normal, however her lower body apparently was still immovable.

"Oh, Lord Eldore, Lady Framboise!" the maid said startled, "If I knew you were coming I would have prepared."

"Its fine," Eldore replied reassuring her, "we came to visit Aniya if that is all right?"

"But of course. I will take my leave for now I need to get the Lady's breakfast."

As the maid finished talking she bowed and left the room closing the door behind her. Eldore and Framboise approached Aniya's bedside, and Framboise sat down whereas Eldore remained seated. Seeing the two Aniya turned her head towards them and had a shy smile on her face.

"How are you feeling Aniya?" Framboise started

"Feeling better now," Aniya replied finally able to talk normally, "though I still hurt in some places."

"We didn't think you would ever wake in the beginning," Eldore spoke

"…In some ways…" Aniya paused, "I didn't want to…"

"Huh? Why?" Framboise asked puzzled

"…Doesn't matter…" Aniya replied with a sad face

"Huh, you and Eldore say the same things…" Framboise said with her eyes narrowing

"We traveled together for a while," Eldore added with a chuckle, "We all picked up each other's traits."

"True…" Aniya added, "But anyways…"

"You know why we are here, I am guessing?"

"The last words I said before I passed out?"

"Yes, we don't understand," Framboise spoke sternly

Aniya took a deep breath and spoke, "While it is true you gave me the Knight Ark Framboise…the Knight 'Spirit' came from elsewhere…"

"Knight…Spirit?" Framboise answered confused

"Every Knight comes in twos," Aniya paused, "regardless of how they are made…"

"Just like the other five Knights…" Eldore added

Aniya nodded in reply

"So that means, everyone that has a Knight now has a spirit?" Framboise asked slightly terrified

"Possibly," Aniya replied, "How many have you made out of curiosity?"

"A dozen so far, excluding yours."

"I see…well as a small warning I will tell you this: Every 'Spirit" has a trial that a person must overcome to make a pact and receive power…You already know this Eldore…"

"Can the Knight be used without one?" Eldore asked

"Yes, but won't be as powerful…" Aniya paused again, "I was somewhat of an exception…"

"If what you say is true…what was your trial?"

"…Mine was to…overcome myself…" Aniya said while looking down

"Overcome yourself?" Framboise asked

"…All my emotions were used against me…" Aniya added, "In particular my anger, hatred, and sadness were the most abundant…"

"Dels…" Eldore said slowly

"Yes…but that is not the only cause…"

"I am going to study this some more…" Framboise said as she got up, "I am also going to question those that received an Ark."

"Leaving so soon Framboise?" Eldore asked

"Yes," Framboise answered as she moved to the door, "Besides you two probably have a lot to catch up on."

"True…"

When Framboise opened the door she gave one final wave to Aniya and Eldore and closed the door behind her, afterward Eldore took the seat that Framboise was in.

"I don't like places like this you know…" Aniya said sternly

"Hmmm?"

"Too upper class for me…"

"Ah, well you did save the country…"

Aniya remained silent

"I have a question Aniya…"

"Yes?"

"What did you mean when the five Knights we know of weren't the only ones?"

Aniya took another deep breath and spoke, "Do you remember where I was when you found me?"

"That dark place?"

"Yes, exactly…" Aniya answered quickly, "That place is where the Gigas are from…as well as the Knights Spirit."

"So what you are saying is…"

"Yes…" Aniya paused, "The Knights ARE Gigas, just in a different form…"

"_So Gigas are corrupted Knights_?" Eldore thought to himself

"But enough doom and gloom…" Aniya said interrupting Eldore's thoughts, "How is everyone?"

"Ah, yes…" Eldore replied, "Leonard and Yulie still work for Rapacci, although Yulie is more of a courier now."

"Hmmm?"

"It's best to ask her," Eldore continued, "Kara and Caesar got married."

"No surprise there…" Aniya said with a smile

"Kara, according to Yulie, 'wears the pants in the relationship'…" Eldore said with a chuckle

"That's Kara for you," Aniya said as she started laughing but had to grab her side as it still hurt

"Are you all right?" Eldore asked concerned

"I'm fine," Aniya said as she took a couple of breaths, and then added "What about you?"

"Me? I work in the castle alongside the scholars," Eldore replied

"Hmmm, how about Cisna?"

"Oh, yes…" Eldore paused, "It's 'Queen' Cisna now, and she had her coronation sometime after the war."

"Wasn't she already queen?"

"Not officially."

"I see…"

Eldore paused for a long moment, looked at Aniya's Ark, and then back to her. In response Aniya also looked at her Ark and then back to Eldore, almost as if she was reading his mind.

"'Why can other people touch the Ark?' Is that what you are wondering Eldore?"

"How did you know that?" Eldore asked puzzled

"Other people asked me that question before you and Framboise came…" Aniya replied, and then spoke "People can touch it but not use it…"

"Yes, everyone has been wondering, as you know what happens if someone touches the Ark that is not the pactmaker."

"True, but I don't have a clear answer…"

"I see…"

"It might be because the Ark is artificial," Aniya said as she looked at the Ark

After finishing her sentence Aniya grabbed the Ark off the nightstand and held it in both hands.

"_Can she_…?" Eldore thought to himself

"Hmmm, nothing…" Aniya said as she stared at the Ark, "I feel nothing coming from it…"

"I see…" Eldore said with a sigh

As Aniya was about to put the Ark back on the table the orb started to glow faintly, much to Aniya's and Eldore's surprise, but faded as quickly as it came. Regardless Aniya put the orb back on the table and left it there. Thinking of testing something Eldore started to reach for the orb himself, as he did he started to feel a small tingle in his hand as he reached for it, afterward he retracted his hand and sat back in the chair still looking at the Ark.

"So that's why…" Eldore said slowly

"Huh?" Aniya said curiously

"It had no power left…it was drained…" Eldore paused, "It had to regenerate…"

Aniya remained silent but closed her eyes

"What is it Aniya?" Eldore said as he turned to face Aniya

"You should have…left me to die…" Aniya spoke, and as she did tears started to stream out of her eyes.

Total shock took over Eldore when he heard those words, and then spoke "Why would you say that?"

"Did you forget Eldore?" Aniya asked seriously, "What I did at Red Horn?"

"It is in the past Aniya, forget about it…" Eldore replied equally serious

"I see them, you know…" Aniya continued, "Every time I sleep…"

Eldore remained silent while Aniya talked

"I am used to it now but…there are so many…"

After finishing her sentence Eldore went over to Aniya's side and hugged her, in response Aniya hugged back and cried in his shoulder. After a short time Aniya regained her composure and Eldore released her from his hug and returned to the chair.

"I'm sorry Eldore…"

"It's fine," Eldore replied reassuring her, "Why don't you talk to me about what happened?"

"I'd have to start from the very beginning…"

"That's fine; I don't much else to do."

"Okay then-" Aniya started to say

Before Aniya could say another word her stomach started rumbling, and immediately afterward her entire face turned red, during which Eldore started laughing whereas Aniya narrowed her eyes at him. As if on cue the maid that had left earlier entered the room with a small tray with food on it.

"There you go Aniya," Eldore said still laughing

"Oh, quiet you…" Aniya said still staring at Eldore face still red

"I hope you have not waited long milady."

"Uh, no I haven't…"

Moving in closer the maid placed the small tray on Aniya's lap. After saying some words to herself, Aniya proceeded to eat her food.

* * *

**A/N:** This is only one of very few chapters that will have a perspective switch.


	3. The First Journey

A/N: Most of the story is flashbacks. That said there will be parts of the game that are omitted.

* * *

Chapter 2: The First Journey

A short time later...

"Ahh…that hit the spot," Aniya said with a grin after finishing her food

"I am glad you enjoyed it milady," the maid said as she took the tray

Eldore chuckled, "Well, you have been out for nearly four months, and during that time, after we found you, all you had was water."

"Just water huh?" Aniya paused, "That explains a few things."

"Miss can you leave us for a time?" Eldore said seriously as he turned to the maid, "We need to have a private conversation."

"Yes, Lord Eldore," the maid spoke as she bowed and left the room closing the door behind her taking the tray with the used dishes with her

Aniya's grin turned into a small frown as she sighed, and then spoke "Well…now that is out of the way I can explain what happened… and why it did…"

Eldore sat back in the chair and began to listen carefully to what she would say.

"When I first came to Balandor I was just an average adventurer: I went out, did quests, turned them in for the chump change that they gave, rinse and repeat, and that was my life…" Aniya began, "Two days prior to me traveling with everyone, I grew tired of the adventuring lifestyle, so I decided to stay in one spot and when I was in Balandor I tried to join the knights, but…I wasn't accepted and so I looked around some more trying to be a bodyguard, even a courier, but my fighting style didn't fit the job descriptions so I was stuck, and so as a last resort I ended up in at Rapacci Wines."

...

**~PAST~**

...

"Hey, new girl!" Rapacci yelled to Aniya

Aniya grudgingly said under her breath "I have a name…" then out loud "Yes?"

"I need you to take these notices to the castle, and make it snappy!" Rapacci commanded

Aniya grumbled when she took the notices from Rapacci then said "What are these?"

"Short version: it explains that we are providing the wine to Princess Cisna's coming-of-age ball tomorrow," Rapacci commented then with a large grin, "Rapacci Wines is finally getting a step up!" but then said with anger in his voice "Why are you still standing there? Get going!"

When Rapacci yelled Aniya felt so little, but she did as she was told as something told her she did not want to be on his bad side. While traveling to the castle she noticed how the nobles were clamoring about how beautiful Princess Cisna was, and about how mute she has been since what happened that fateful night.

"Hmph, uptight asses..." Aniya said under her breath as she passed some of the nobles who commented on her clothing, although she knew some of them had a point on her clothing as her boots were muddy and she was wearing torn armor.

"_I need to get some new clothes. After I drop off these notices I'll take a detour to the store, I'm sure Rapacci won't mind,_" Aniya thought to herself.

"Halt, what is it you need from the castle commoner?" Spoke a guard she approached the castle gate. The gate guard looked down on her as if she were a pest waiting to be squished

"I am here to drop off these notices from Rapacci Wines" Aniya replied

"I will take them, now off with you!" the guard said as he snatched the papers out her hands

"Hey!" Aniya yelled "What's with you? I did nothing wrong and yet you treat me like I committed a crime or something!"

"I said: Off with you!" the guard replied with a much harsher voice and the guard looked at Aniya as if he were going to skewer her with his spear.

"Enough!" A sharp voice came from behind the guard

The guard popped to attention as he knew whom the voice belonged

"What is the problem here?" The voice had come from Sir Cyrus, General of Balandor's forces.

"Sir Cyrus, this commoner was harassing me, sir" the guard replied

"Is that so?" Cyrus said as he looked from the guard to Aniya and said "Is this true?"

"Of course not!" Aniya replied fiercely then continued "I only came to deliver a message from Rapacci Wines but…this guard was being an ass about it…"

"I see…" Cyrus then paused "Wait…I remember you now. You had tried to join the Knights just the other day but were rejected."

Aniya had felt somewhat hurt being told of her failure by none other than the highest ranking official in Balandor's military. Rather than stress the problem further Aniya bowed and turned and walked off.

"Hmph…I can't believe how people are in this Kingdom..." Aniya said to herself as she walked away

As Aniya reached the store she took out the money she had on hand and remarked how little she had

"_I can't buy much with this, but at least I can get something better looking than what I have on..._" Aniya thought to herself

After looking around for a short time Aniya purchased an olive green dress which had some gold trim, along with some new boots and traded her old gear in, which sadly didn't add up to much as it was so worn.

With her shopping complete Aniya made her way back to Rapacci who remarked on her new clothes but reprimanded her for taking so long.

"_I'm going to hate living here in Balandor_," Aniya thought to herself, then spoke out loud as she started to walk to the door, "…Rapacci I am going home for the day, I'll be back in the morning."

"Hold on," Rapacci quickly said then added, "Tomorrow you are going with someone to Parma to pick up the wine for tomorrow; you have to travel through Balastor Plain so make sure you are ready."

"Got it!" Aniya said as she waved and walked off

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"So…what does what happened with the guard have to do with what happened at Red Horn?" Eldore asked

"Remember how I said all my sorrow, anger, and hate? That was the start of it all," Aniya replied

"Is that so?" a voice from the door sounded and it came from Sir Cyrus

"Cyrus…" Aniya remarked

"I never did tell you why you were rejected from the Knights did I?" Cyrus began, "It was due to the ball that happening the next day, we did not want to risk any spies getting into the castle as the Farians were coming as well…and well you know how it goes…"

"I see…well thanks for clearing that up. Although it is a bit late…" as Aniya said with a smile "But better late than never I suppose."

Eldore chuckled slightly and Cyrus followed shortly afterwards, and eventually Aniya herself but had to hold her side as she was still in pain

"Anyways, so what happened next?" Eldore said after he finished chuckling

"Hmm, well the next day I went to Rapacci Wines and began the work day aligning barrels, cleaning up the shop…listening to Rapacci complaining about how he wants his business to boom..." Aniya said as she was continuing her story, "I met Leonard for the first time, who had the previous day off, and we began our trek towards Parma…which reminds me Eldore, now that I think about it, that day on the street it was you wasn't it?"

"Yes…" Eldore replied

"I have a question about that. Why did you look at Leonard and me the way that you did? It was almost as if you had a bone to pick with us," Aniya commented

"I could…sense something coming from Leonard, you just happened to be in my line of sight at the time" Eldore answered

"I see…I guess you sensed Madoras but couldn't exactly make it out then huh?"

"Indeed."

"Well, moving on, when me and Leonard were traveling through Balastor Plain he explained Rapacci's attitude to me and told me it was nothing personal, that he was like that to everyone even to him. He also explained that he was an orphan and Rapacci raised him," Aniya continued, "When we were traveling on the plain Leonard remarked about how good I was with the sword, how I dispatched monsters so easily and that he wanted to spar with me one day. And then we finally made it to Parma and met up with Yulie…"

...

**~PAST~**

...

"Oh, you must be the new girl," Yulie remarked to Aniya, "Rapacci told me a little about you"

Aniya grumbled under her breath as she disliked being called that, "I'm Aniya, nice to meet you Yulie."

"Same here," Yulie nodded and paused for a moment then turned to Leonard, "I guess you're here for the wine right? Well we can't go anywhere until we find Raus he is the only one who can drive the beastwain. He's probably napping off somewhere again…or drinking…or both"

"Just great…" Leonard said with a sigh "You know how Rapacci gets when it comes to his business, let's split up and find him."

"Actually let's walk together Leonard, the village isn't that big and we can chat for a bit" Yulie replied quickly "You think you will be ok Aniya?"

"Yeah, I'll be fine. What does Raus look like?" Aniya asked

"Oh, that's right you haven't been here before. Raus is a Papituar about so high including ears" Yulie replied trying to describe Raus "…also he may be the only Papituar who might be wobbling while he is walking if that helps."

The group chuckled a little at Yulie's comment about Raus being a drunkard; afterwards they split up with Aniya taking the eastern half of Parma and Yulie with Leonard taking the western half. While Aniya was doing her search she noticed the village had a weapons shop in it.

"_Hmmm, I wonder_…" Aniya thought to herself as she entered the shop and looked around then talked to the shop clerk, "nice selection of items, I never thought I'd see a weapons shop in a village like this, it seems too peaceful to have one."

"Well…with Balastor Plain nearby we sometimes have monsters that wander into the village so, we need weaponry to defend ourselves" the shop clerk replied

"I see that makes sense," Aniya paused and looked around, "You have an impressive display."

"You seem like you know your weapons," the clerk said as he reached below the counter "what do you think of this bow?" the clerk continued as he handed Aniya a bow made of oak

Being an adventurer Aniya had a wide variety of weapon knowledge so when she examined the bow she looked at it like she were a scientist of sorts then remarked "Hmmm, it's nice and light…though the string seems a little big doesn't it?"

"Oh yeah that string is for special arrows, primarily for the ones I make," the clerk replied as he pulled out one of his arrows, which was rather large for a normal arrow, and handed it to her. The clerk continued "I made this for stopping a troll."

Looking at the arrow and then back to the clerk again Aniya had a very confused look on her face

"I know what you are thinking: 'an arrow stopping a troll?' Well when you hit a troll with something like this in the right spot, like its eye for instance, it may do more damage than a normal arrow would."

"I see your point," Aniya spoke as she started to hand back the special bow and arrow

"You can keep that, I haven't really tested it on a troll yet, just vespids and the occasional polkan," the clerk chuckled, "here are a few more arrows just in case."

"Aniya! Where are you!?" a call came from outside

"Oops, I forgot I was supposed to be looking for Raus. Thanks again, I'll tell you how it works if I ever run into a troll!" Aniya quickly said to the clerk as she ran out

"Oh, shopping?" Leonard said who came looking for Aniya

"Sorry, when I was looking for Raus I went into the store and got wrapped up in a conversation," Aniya said out of breath

"Alright, well it's almost time for us to head back; you haven't seen Rapacci mad until you are late with a shipment," Leonard said with a shudder

"_gulp…_I guess we shouldn't tarry then."

"Yeah…by the way Yulie was right on about Raus: he was drinking AND sleeping," Leonard said with a laugh

With that Leonard and company started their return journey to Balandor wagon in tow, with a slightly hung-over Raus at the reins of the beastwain. During the journey back Leonard, Yulie, and Raus all had conversations with each other effectively leaving Aniya out of it…almost as if she was not present.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"…And it was around this point where I started to 'fade into the background,'" Aniya spoke with a sad expression then looked at Cyrus and Eldore, "I started to dislike Leonard and Yulie for that."

"I…I had no idea…" Eldore spoke up

"I still don't get it. What exactly are you talking about?" Cyrus asked cautiously

"She is explaining about her actions on Red Horn Isle. You weren't there Cyrus so I don't really expect you to know about it," Eldore explained, "but if you stick around through this I think you will come to understand."

"I regret what happened that day…I shouldn't have…" Aniya said close to tears

Cyrus stood in the room looking dumbfounded not truly understanding what transpired during the events of Red Horn Isle. "I…uh…need to return to my duties, I have already spent too much time here," Cyrus finished,"…I will return later."

"Very well," Eldore added "it is probably best to take a short break here as you have been talking for a while now Aniya."

"Maybe…it is close to noon now. Heh how time flies, right?" Aniya joked

Eldore chuckled "Yes, it does…I will come back in a couple of hours, we can continue then ok?"

"Ok," Aniya said with a smile

Eldore had left the room and Aniya was alone once again. "Red Horn Isle…" Aniya muttered to herself then began to sob silently "how I wish I could take back that day…"

"Um…milady?" A maid who walked in spoke as she had noticed Aniya crying "Is…is something the matter?"

"N-no…its nothing," Aniya spoke quickly wiping away her tears

...

~Several Hours Later~

...

"I'm back Aniya," Eldore spoke as he walked in, "And I brought someone who wanted to see you. Come on in!"

As Eldore finished talking Yulie and Leonard walked in much to Aniya's surprise. "You guys…" Aniya started, "it's good to see you."

Yulie ran to Aniya's bedside and hugged her tightly then spoke tearily, "Oh my God, I so glad you are awake!"

"Yulie…OW!" Aniya yelled trying to push her off

"I won't let go!"

Leonard and Eldore could not help but watch and eventually laugh at the two.

"Can you blame her Aniya? Compared to the rest of us she worried the most about you," Leonard said through his laughter "although Yulie…she is still in pain in some places I don't think you want to injure her more

Coming to this realization Yulie had ceased her bear hug on Aniya and took a few steps back

"How long have you been awake? Are you eating ok? Do you still feel pain?" Yulie said quickly barely stopping for breath

"I woke up a couple of days ago, the food here is pretty good considering I'm in the Royal Palace, and I still hurt in some places," Aniya said answering in order

"I had told them you were telling me about what happened, and where you left off," Eldore spoke bluntly, "Shall we continue?"

"Yes, let's…" Aniya then looked at Yulie and Leonard, "Are you sure you two want to hear this?"

Leonard and Yulie nodded in agreement then took their seats with Leonard sitting next to Eldore and Yulie sitting on the bed next to Aniya. "Don't forget about me..." It was the voice from Cyrus who was in casual attire as his duties for the day had finished and had just walked in "I want to hear everything up to Red Horn Isle…"

"Very well…When last I left off we had just left Parma with the wine…" Aniya started

…

**~PAST~**

…

"I'm so jealous of those two..." Aniya mumbled to herself as she looked at Leonard and Yulie talking like they haven't see each other in years

"Mmmm," Raus commented as he started to smack his lips, "I could really go for the wine in the barrels right now."

"Don't. Even. Think. About. It." Yulie replied with an almost evil voice

Raus recoiled from Yulie's words almost as if he were a child. Aniya and Leonard laughed themselves to tears at the sight; however their fun was cut short as the beastwain started to become restless. "What's wrong with him?" Leonard asked cautiously

"I-I-I-I don't know…hungry maybe?" Raus answered while trying to contain the animal

"Oh…no…" Yulie spoke with a terrified voice "Troll!"

The troll had come up on their rear and seemed to be attracted by the smell of the wine. "Raus, get out of here we'll hold it off," Leonard yelled as Yulie, and Aniya readied their weapons while Raus had gone full speed away from the encroaching troll

"Yulie, is that all you have? A dagger?" Aniya asked as she looked at Yulie's weapon

"Yeah, I didn't think we'd run into a troll of all things, so I left my other items at home," Yulie replied with a guilty voice

"Here take this, I got this from the store when we were in Parma, he said that he made it specifically for trolls," Aniya quickly said as she tossed Yulie the bow and arrows she got from the store clerk

But the troll was on them however and as Yulie had grabbed the bow and was preparing it the troll took a swing in her direction with it's club. "Yulie!" Leonard yelled towards her but she was struck with fear as she had never seen a troll much less fight one.

"Look out!" Aniya yelled as she rushed to Yulie and pushed her out of the way effectively out of the range of the troll's club but in turn took the blow herself which sent her flying into the nearest tree.

At this point Leonard had gotten a clean blow on the troll's knee which had forced it down in range of normal weapons. Yulie had finally readied an arrow and managed to strike the troll, ironically, in the eye forcing it to run away when it finally regained its balance.

"Yeah! Ha ha, you better run!" Yulie cheered as she saw the troll retreating

"You ok, Yulie?" Leonard asked concerned for his friend

"I'm fine..." Yulie replied with voice trembling after regaining herself

"Yeah…I'm fine too…" Aniya grumbled as she walked up

"What is a troll, of all things, doing this close to Balandor?" Leonard wondered

"I don't know but we need to inform the guards when we reach Balandor," Yulie replied

As the encounter drew to a close they noticed how far the sun had set on them and realized they are late with the wine.

"We need to hurry!" Leonard yelled in desperation as they all started to resume their trek to Balandor albeit a much faster pace...

...

~Fifteen minutes later at Balandor Gate~

...

"Rapacci Wines?" the guard said who was waiting at the gate for them, "You are late…"

"Sorry, but we ran into a troll on the way so we were held up for some time" Yulie tried to explain

"Troll…on Balastor Plain? Are you sure you didn't take sips of the wine on your way back here?"

"No, it's true!" Leonard pitched in, "We barely managed to fight it off, and besides we aren't old enough to drink yet"

"Hmm, alright we will have looked into. Hurry up to the palace, they are waiting for you" the guard finished as Leonard and Yulie with Raus started up the path

"_I don't think they need me for a delivery, so I'll head home and heal up_..." Aniya thought to herself as she rubbed her side as she was still hurting and as she reached square she noticed the circus was in then said to herself "I'll enjoy the entertainment before I head home..." and joined the crowd gathered around the entertainers.

Out of nowhere the circus tent exploded and revealed a monster with a cannon on its back along with soldiers clad in black who started to kill indiscriminately.

"Pyredaemos!" a bald headed man yelled, "To the castle!"

The monster had begun its march to the castle and crushed underfoot any who got in its way, be it soldier or civilian.

"And here I thought this day couldn't get any worse…" Aniya said to herself then realized Leonard and Yulie are at the castle and started to run to warn her comrades, but was slowed slightly due to the injury she sustained when dealing with the troll earlier

Upon reaching the castle Aniya noticed the cart with the wine was still outside but Yulie and Leonard were nowhere to be found.

"_They must have gone inside_..." Aniya thought to herself and went up the steps but was stopped by one of the guards

"Halt!" the guard yelled "No visitors allowed at the castle at this time!"

Before Aniya could start to explain a soldier pushed his way through shouting "M-M-Monster!" upon entry. Sure enough the cannon monster Pyredaemos was almost on top of them with the bald headed man directly in front along with soldiers clad in black.

"Out of my way!" screamed Aniya as she pushed her way through and into the castle still concerned for her friends. Shortly afterward the soldiers followed and the beast burst through the castle doors taking the entire wall with it.

"Soldiers to arms!" screamed Cyrus who was directing his troops, then spotted Aniya "Where are you going? Don't run away! Your King needs you!"

"I'm no soldier!" Aniya spat back still running in one direction, she however was stopped by an enemy soldier while she was searching for Leonard and Yulie

The soldier had rushed Aniya swinging his sword wildly showing no sign of skill; as such Aniya easily dodged him and managed to knock his helmet off with one clean blow, revealing a boy no older than she.

"You…are good…" the soldier said complementing the girl then continued his assault

Aniya was stunned at the boy's age that she did not pay attention to his attack like she did before and ended up knocked to the ground by the boys shoulder charge. Aniya moaned as she regained her composure; however the soldier was posed above her about to deliver a finishing strike. Then, without thinking, she raised her sword and ran the soldier through delivering a fatal wound.

The soldier had coughed up blood and let out a cry of pain as he fell to the ground dead. Noticing this Cyrus made his way to Aniya's side who was in a state of shock at her action, as she had never killed another human being before.

"What…have I done?" she muttered as she looked up at Cyrus with tears in her eyes "I-I killed him…"

Cyrus remained silent for a moment then spoke, "This is what happens in combat between soldiers, one must perish for the other to move on, that is the nature of war…"

Aniya stared at Cyrus for another moment then staggered to her feet then stammered, "I-I-I-I…"

Cyrus grabbed Aniya's shoulder and spun her in his direction whereupon he slapped her across the face "You wanted to be a Knight? This is one of the services you must perform! I was right to reject you…" Cyrus declared

Aniya had never felt so hurt in her life but did not have time to reply as they both felt a tremor come from beneath. Then, out from the ground, they witnessed monster and a seven meter tall suit of white armor erupted and began to do battle with all present awestruck…

...

**~PRESENT~**

...

"…I don't think I need to explain what happened next as we were all there." Aniya finished

The room was deathly silent with the exception of the crickets outside. Leonard finally broke the silence, "I had no idea…You went through hell that night…and I thought I had it bad."

"Cyrus!" Yulie exclaimed. "How could be so cruel? Slapping her?"

"…He was right though," Eldore interrupted, "that IS the nature of war."

"It's true," Aniya added, "if what happened didn't happen that night…I wouldn't be here now, nor would I have had the courage to fight them later…"

Cyrus then nodded and was slowly backing away from Yulie who looked like she was going to kill him. "I…uh…think that's enough for one night" Cyrus muttered as he slowly started to make for the door

"Indeed, let us continue this tomorrow," Eldore added, "Same time then?"

Aniya then nodded then started to get comfortable in order to go to sleep.

"Good night, everyone" Aniya said as the group made their way out and back home for the evening

...

~Later that night~

...

The orb that had been sitting on the table next to Aniya's bedside had begun to glow ominously, then a voice very faintly uttered "Little…girl…"

Aniya opened her eyes and looked at the Ark; however the orb had gone quiet and was again silent. She then closed her eyes and silently said "Good night…" and went back to sleep…

* * *

**A/N**: As those who already played and beaten the game already know that Yulie was the most pure hearted character of the story (well...her and Cisna), its not a surprise that she would be worried about a fellow comrade. (In other words this isn't a AvatarxYulie Fanfic)


	4. Through the Desert

Chapter 3: Through the Desert

The next morning…

"_Yaaaaawn_…they're late" Aniya said as she noticed that everyone didn't show up in the morning as planned, then to herself "_Well…I suppose it makes sense...everyone has lives_…"

Aniya then removed the covers that had covered her the entire time and revealed that her leg burns were mostly healed.

"Milady?" a maid said as she walked in realizing that Aniya had woken up for the day "I hadn't realized you were up, is there anything you need?"

"No…not right now," Aniya said waving her off, she then placed her feet on the ground then said to herself, "Floor is cold…but whatever..."

Aniya then tried to stand on her feet but it ended in failure for as soon as she managed to stand upright she fell to her knees and against the table. The maid said in a horrified voice "M-Milady!" as she rushed to her side and helped her back onto the bed

"I guess I can't leave yet…" Aniya said with a sigh

"Milady, you mustn't push yourself!"

"I know but…"

"The queen said you may stay as long as you need so you can fully heal."

"So…she knows I'm awake hmmm?"

"Y-Yes…I informed her the first day you awoke," the maid started "She also said 'I am sorry I cannot visit you, I will see you soon though.'"

"It makes sense, she IS the queen of an entire country," Aniya said as she slipped back under the covers

"Indeed," came a familiar voice, "But she wants to see you almost as much as Yulie did…"

"Hey Cyrus…"

"Hey…"

"Where is Eldore and everyone else?" Aniya questioned

"They are coming, they had to speak to the queen," Cyrus started, "How are you holding up?"

"Well…" Aniya said as she looked at the maid then back at Cyrus, "I can't walk yet, but I can do everything else…"

Cyrus nodded, "It's a start at least."

"Yeah…" Aniya said in agreement

"Ahh, the lady is awake I see" Eldore said as he walked in along with Leonard and Yulie

"You're late Eldore…" Aniya said sharply

"I was actually here much earlier," Eldore started, "But you were still sleep, I didn't want to disturb you, plus you looked so peaceful."

Aniya shot a glare at Eldore as she was surprised that he came in while she was sleeping, she then said "You were watching me sleep?"

"Only for a moment, but enough of that…"

"Yes…Um, miss can you leave us? Actually you can take the day off as they are all here, I'm sure they can handle anything," Aniya said to the maid who was still standing at the bedside

"I cannot milady, the queen ordered…"

"I will take responsibility," Cyrus cut in, "Go ahead and take a rest, you look like you need it" Cyrus mentioned as he noticed that the maid's eyes were slightly red as it looks like she had been up for more than a day

"Yes, Sir Cyrus," the maid said as she finished then bowed and went out the door closing it behind her

"Now that that is done…" Eldore muttered

"Yes, I know," Aniya replied grudgingly "Let's see, when I last left off the fight between you, Leonard, and that beast was finished but Cisna was taken away. Later, as you remember, Sarvain suggested sending you to rescue the fair princess, whereas I was still in shock to some degree…"

...

**~PAST~**

...

Aniya was standing over the dead soldier in the rubble of the castle with her bloodied blade in her right hand, which had dried partially at that point, then noticed Sir Cyrus yell in frustration and decided to go over to him.

"Sir Cyrus, what is the matter?" Aniya asked meekly

Cyrus had given her a glare that would freeze the blood of anyone then said "Sarvain that pompous ass, he is sending a CHILD of all people to rescue the princess, all the while not worrying about the Farians. Their archduke was killed along with our king; we can't just sit here…"

Before he knew it by the time he finished with the first sentence Aniya had already left trying to find Leonard and Yulie because the only people she could think about when he said "child" were those two. Aniya had almost reached Rapacci's shop when she saw Rapacci himself.

"New girl…" Rapacci started "What are you doing here? Weren't you with Leonard and Yulie?"

"I'm…looking…for…them" Aniya uttered in-between breaths as she ran as fast as she could from the castle to the shop

"I see. They just left here saying they are going to rescue the princess along with some elderly fellow."

Aniya at that point felt pitiful and said with her voice breaking "Why'd they leave me?"

"They probably didn't want to get you involved..." Rapacci said trying to comfort her "Come inside for a moment."

As Rapacci finished his sentence he opened the door and motioned for Aniya to join him, and she did. Rapacci then went behind his counter and pulled out something very familiar to the young girl

"Is…that?" Aniya said surprised

Rapacci had pulled out her old armor, however it was cleaned and anything wrong with it before was undone then Rapacci started "I used to be an adventurer too in my younger years. I know you have seen a lot with this on. "

Aniya looked astonished, she did not expect to hear that Rapacci used to journey much less speak to her in a calm collected voice.

"But…why?" She asked slowly

"I know you are going to follow them anyways, but I can't let you go unprepared..." Rapacci said with a smile then continued "But I do have a requirement before I give this to you…"

"And that is?" Aniya said cautiously

"Take care of Leonard for me. He isn't my biological son but I love him just the same."

"You got it!" Aniya said with a confident voice

Rapacci then handed her the armor along with a new weapon with some gilda, about two-thousand to help her on the way then said with his regular voice "What are you waiting for? Get going!"

Aniya had never felt good to have been yelled at Rapacci before. She then yelled back "Yes, sir!" before going to get changed

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"Wow, I didn't know he said that to you," Leonard interrupted

"There are a lot of things we did not know about until now," Eldore added

"Ahem…Yes well there is still more to know," Aniya said with a huff

"Sorry about that," Leonard said apologetically

"It's ok. Now, after I got my armor on Rapacci pointed me towards the Greydall Plain and I was on my way. Just before I left though Raus came up to me and offered me a deed to a place called a 'Georama' for one-thousand gilda, I thought 'why not?' and I took it."

"What…is a 'Georama'?" both Cyrus and Leonard asked at the same time

"I'll explain later. So afterwards I made my way to Greydall and to you guys," motioning to Leonard, Yulie, and Eldore then with a sad voice "Although…"

...

**~PAST~**

...

"What are you doing here?" Leonard asked confused

"What?" Aniya asked equally confused

"This doesn't concern you."

"Like HELL it doesn't," Aniya angrily announced "I know we didn't know each other long, but I can prove useful: I know a lot of things from beyond this area, which in turn can be used effectively."

There was a short silence then elderly man in the group who was off to the side next to Yulie professed: "Hmmm, why not?"

"And you are?" Aniya asked

"The name is Eldore, an old man as you can see. I have skill with magic as well as blade, and I also have a reason to go on this journey to rescue the princess."

"I see, well the name is Aniya I know magic too, although I don't use it much, and I have skill with all types of weaponry. I am, or rather I _was_, an adventurer."

At this point Leonard had grudgingly accepted Aniya into the party originally unaware of her knowledge. Pressing onward Aniya mentioned several herbs and items that could be used for potions as well as things to sell. It was going smoothly until three quarters of the way through the plain the party had halted as they all heard the growl of a monster.

"What…is that?" Leonard exclaimed

Aniya had begun to ready her weapon when Leonard had placed his arm in her path. "I will handle this…" he announced proudly

Aniya had begun to open her mouth to say something but was cut short as she noticed Leonard had started to have a strange white aura around him.

"_What on earth_…?" Aniya thought to herself

Leonard raised his left hand and magically a gauntlet appeared, while in his left a dagger. Leonard had stabbed the dagger through the slot of the gauntlet as he uttered an incantation:

"O, Wizel…White Warrior…  
Wielder of the Ancient Sword…Grant me your power!  
…VERTO!"

As Leonard finished he disappeared and in his placed stood something Aniya remembered from the previous night: a seven meter tall suit of white armor.

"So…that was you Leonard?" Aniya uttered softly but loud enough for Yulie to hear

"Yeah, I was there when he first transformed" Yulie spoke as she started to move Aniya out of range of the Knight and monster then said "Quite a sight isn't it?"

Aniya didn't talk, she was still awestruck at what she was looking at, and before she realized it the battle had been won with Leonard cleaving the monster's head clean off with the massive sword. After the deed was done the Knight knelt and in its place was Leonard once again, he then said "Serves them right for trying to stall us…"

"That monster served no one Leonard" Eldore started "He was the 'Lord of Greydall Plain,' we simply caught his attention…"

"Oh…" Leonard said dumbfounded

"Wow..." Aniya finally said "Just…wow…"

Leonard raised his left arm to show her the ark then said "Apparently this is called an 'ark' and it is what is used to call the Knight," then looked at Eldore "or Incorruptus as you put it Eldore."

Aniya still looking at the ark attempted to put her hand on it but was immediately blown back several feet. "What happened?" she uttered shielding her hand

"Only the pact maker may touch the ark," Eldore explained to her "Anyone else who attempts to will be rejected like you did."

"I'll keep that in mind. I just remembered though, who were those soldiers that attacked last night?" Aniya asked still shielding her hand

"They were the…'Magi' a group that is trying to reestablish the Empire of Yshrenia…" Yulie tried to explain

"We can talk about it on the road," Eldore said with urgency "we already spent enough time here."

With a combined nod the group continued their path north to the Nordia Tunnels…

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"And yet…your ark seems to be the only exception to that rule" Eldore cut in

"Probably because it's artificial like I said before…" Aniya started to explain

"Maybe, but even so…"

"HEY!" Yulie yelled as she glared at the three gentlemen in the room "Let's stop interrupting."

"Yes…it is very rude to do that, especially if it happens multiple times" came a voice from outside

Everyone at this point looked towards the door and realized who was talking: It was Kara in her normal attire. "Kara!" everyone in the room including Aniya yelled at the same time

"Good to see everyone again, it's been a while, Kara had said with a grin, "Glad to see you are up Aniya."

"What are you doing here?" Aniya asked quizzically

"Well, I had heard you were awake again. And I heard about pockets of Magi still around, so the queen wanted all the lords in this land, including Greede's, to gather for an important meeting."

"Makes sense…" Aniya then looked at the others "Is that what you were all talking about that held you up earlier?"

"Indeed," Eldore said, "Considering we have the most experience, she wants us to help deal with them."

Aniya then put on a sad face "And here _I am_ just laying here recapping our journey…"

"Don't worry about it," Cyrus pitched in, "We can handle it. And besides, we have you to thank for saving our country. I think you have done enough."

"Maybe…"

"Well enough about that, so where did you leave off last?" Kara spoke trying to change the subject back

"Oh…yeah," Aniya stammered trying to collect her thoughts, "After the incident with the monster we were at the entrance to Nordia Tunnels when Eldore said we should camp… of course I was left out of the conversation during that night," Aniya paused, "but moving past that we made our way through the tunnels…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

"_Ughh…the air is stale in this place,_" Aniya thought to herself as the group had entered Nordia Tunnels

"The tunnels were used until several years ago when the tunnels were mined out," Eldore started as if he read Aniya's mind, "It is still used for travel to the desert, to some degree at least."

"Yeah, they used to pull many precious materials from here," Yulie commented, "But now things are being imported from faraway"

"Yeah…" Leonard sighed

"I've noticed th-ahhh," Aniya screamed as she dodged, albeit narrowly, a troll's club

"Grrr…another troll," Leonard groaned angrily as he readied his ark, "O, Wizel…White War-"

"Wait, Leonard!" Yulie yelled stopping his incantation, "We shouldn't always rely on your Knight, let's do this without it"

"Indeed," Eldore added, "there may come a time when you will never have the chance to transform"

Aniya nodded to this as well, and with a groan Leonard put away his ark and everyone began to fight the troll.

"Ok everyone, let's do this" Yulie shouted trying to encourage everyone

Leonard with sword and shield, Yulie with bow and arrow, Eldore and Aniya with blade and magic, it seemed that nothing could stop the foursome. This appeared to be true as the troll was staggered by Eldore's magic, while Leonard and Yulie attacked its legs bringing it to its knees, and Aniya jumped onto its back trying to climb up to its head to strike a fatal blow, trolls however, are not all brawn and no brains.

"Aghh!" Aniya screamed as she was grabbed by the troll with its right hand

"Aniya!" Leonard yelled

The troll had started to, literally, squeeze the life from the young girl while the others could do nothing but helplessly watch. Aniya had somehow managed to pull out a dagger and stabbed the troll in the wrist; however this only seemed to enrage the troll as it threw her down a passageway on an upper level, and into a darkened room.

"Ughh…oww…" Aniya said as she tried to look around, then thought to herself "_Well, I'm not dead and_…"

Aniya's personal monologue was cut short as she heard a faint hissing sound that seemed to grow louder, and more numerous. With her hands shaking Aniya picked up her weapon and readied it preparing for what was to come.

"Ahhhh!" Aniya screamed, as something had jumped onto her back

Aniya gripped whatever it was and threw it to the ground and stomped as hard as she could. Afterwards, she quickly searched around the room for something flammable and noticed a table with papers on it.

"_No choice_…" Aniya thought to herself as she began to chant

From her hands she produced a ball of fire which illuminated the room partially and revealed what was attacking her. Spiders, blue in color, at least 6 of them, excluding the one she had already killed, had her surrounded and it seemed there were more on the way as she heard more hissing coming from the holes in the walls. With the fire she had created Aniya threw it at the table and it, along with what was on it burst into flames and scared away the spiders.

"Whew…" Aniya said with a giant sigh of relief, and then quickly realized the danger had not yet passed, "I need to get back to everyone!"

As she passed the burnt table she noticed a slight glimmer coming from it. Clearing away the ashes from the burned papers, she revealed an old, albeit mostly rusty, key.

"_I'll bring it with me_," Aniya thought to herself as she pocketed the key and whatever else she could salvage

She then ran back to the main passage where the rest of the group was fighting the troll, only to find that the troll was already dead but the other three were missing.

"Huh, I guess they needed Leonard's Knight after all," Aniya thought out loud as she noticed the troll had one of its arms had been cut off, "…but where did they go, and why didn't they look for me?"

Aniya began her search for her missing friends, assuming they had moved further in. This was further implied as she noticed that the same type of spiders that had attacked her in the room had littered the path she was following, along with purple lizard-like monsters. It wasn't too long after Aniya began her search that she found the trio; they were standing around trying to find a way through a locked gate that seemed too sturdy to break through.

"Aniya!" Yulie called out noticing her friend

"Hey…" Aniya replied almost emotionless

"Do you think you can help?" Eldore asked slowly, "We can't seem to get past this, I would try magic but I fear it would do more harm than good"

"Yeah," Leonard added in, "The walls don't seem strong enough to withstand too much force"

"Um…" Aniya started as she reached into her pocket, "How about this?" She had pulled out the key she had found in the room with the spiders to everyone's surprise.

"Where did you find that?" Leonard said with a shock

"It's not important…" Eldore said quickly as he took the key from Aniya and went to the gate

"So…that's how it is…" Aniya mumbled under her breath

Luckily the key had worked on the gate; however the key broke upon its usage to everyone's shock. But what was on the other side of the gate surprised the group even more: Magi soldiers, at least a dozen.

"So…they knew we were coming…" Eldore said as he readied his weapon

Aniya had turned to Yulie and Leonard and noticed that while Leonard did not show any fear of battle, Yulie was showing the same fear she did as when she had killed that soldier in Balandor.

"Yulie…" Aniya said softly

"Get ready!" Leonard shouted as the soldiers had started to move towards them

As Leonard was beginning to move forward an arrow shot past his left shoulder and struck the nearest soldier square in the chest killing him. The arrow had come from Yulie who was in her ready stance preparing another arrow.

"Whoa…" Aniya exclaimed, surprised at how quickly Yulie had gotten over her fear

As the group had rounded the corners, fighting the magi as they came along, they found some relief as they came to a wide open area with the entrance to the Lagnish Desert on the upper part of the room. However, the group's relief was cut short as a dark voice called out to them from the entrance.

"So...You have finally made it this far…" It was a soldier dressed in dark spiky armor

"You!" Leonard yelled so loud his voice echoed

"Leonard?" Yulie had asked with frightful caution

"He killed the King...and almost killed Cisna!" Leonard had said with anger in his voice

"He…killed the King?"

"Hmmm…" Eldore groaned, "Dragias…I heard he is the General of the magi forces, I didn't think we'd run into him this early…"

Almost immediately after Eldore had finished his sentence when Dragias had jumped from the rising and to their level. Upon rising from his jump, Dragias drew his sword and pointed it at the group then said, "Which of you will be first, hmmm?"

"You're MINE!" Leonard yelled as he rushed the general followed by Eldore

"Leonard, Eldore!" Yulie yelled trying to call them back

Dragias did not seem fazed by the two-on-one odds as he dodged and parried the two attackers with relative ease. It wasn't long before Dragias drove off Leonard and then Eldore.

"His style…" Aniya said finally breaking her silence, "It was almost like a…dance"

"Enough!" Dragias exclaimed seemingly bored of the challenge presented to him

"He's...good…" Leonard said through breaths

Dragias had then begun to chuckle as he raised his hand and a black sword appeared in front of him

"No…it can't be…" Eldore said with fear in his voice

A dark aura, coupled with what had seemed to be dark feathers, had begun to surround Dragias as began his incantation:

"O, Dinivas, Deliverer of Dark and Dread  
Ruler of the Ancient Shadow…Grant me your power…  
…VERTO!"

Dragias had drawn the sword, and with it a bright flash of light filled the room and in his place stood a Knight similar to Leonard's, however this Knight was black in color.

"This is your end…" Dinivas said mockingly

"Another Knight?" Leonard had said shocked

"That is Ebonwings the Black Knight, the counterpart to your Knight Leonard" Eldore explained

"In that case…" Leonard stated as he started to speak his incantation

However Leonard was unable to complete his incantation as Dragias, in his Knight form, had begun to move towards them with speed so great that Leonard could not concentrate. To Dragias' surprise however he received pain to his right foot from Aniya's sword.

"Leonard!" Aniya cried out "I'll hold him for as long as I can, hurry and transform!"

"You…little bitch!" Dragias yelled as he kicked Aniya and sent her flying towards the wall but her flight was cut short by a giant hand that caught her in midair; she had indeed bought Leonard enough time to transform luckily.

"Thanks Leonard..." Aniya said as Leonard set her down

"Idiot…" Leonard started "Do scare me like that again…"

"Yeah…" Yulie added with tears in her eyes "You could have been killed!"

"Sorry…everyone…" Aniya said shyly

"How touching…" Dragias said mockingly, "Now…let us see how you do…boy…"

With that Leonard had begun his attack against the Black Knight. It may have been due to the increased size, but transformed Leonard seemed to match Dragias in skill. The fight seemed to last forever until Leonard had gotten a good hit in with his free hand after he parried Dragias' sword causing him to stagger.

"Ughh…" Dragias cried in pain as he started to retreat, "Dammit, he had already gotten this strong…"

"Trying to run away?" Leonard yelled mockingly to the general

The Black Knight had grown a pair of black raven-like wings and took to the sky to everyone's shock. Leonard was preparing to follow, but was stopped by a spell Dragias had cast when he retreated leaving behind the words: "This isn't over…boy"

Upon Leonard's reversion to his human form the group remarked at how strong he has indeed become with the Knight. After dressing their wounds the group continued up the path towards the entrance to the Lagnish Desert.

"Ahhh…fresh air!" Yulie exclaimed as they finally emerged from the tunnels

"I know what you mean" Leonard added

Eldore added in as well "Yes…but before we continue-"

"We camp right?" Leonard cut in

"Well…yes…" Eldore said with a surprise

~That Night~

"It's good we found an oasis so close to the start of the desert" Eldore commented

"So…Eldore..." Aniya started "Just how many Knights are there?"

"Well, you know of the two that we have already seen the White Knight, and the Black Knight," Eldore started to explain, "the Dogma Legend speaks of three more for a total of five Knights"

"I see…" Yulie spoke with a sigh, "Well…let's hope they don't have the other three"

"Indeed, let's hope…" Eldore added in agreement

"Well, I'll go outside to keep Leonard company…" Yulie said while standing up

As Yulie had left the tent Aniya grabbed her side when she was kicked from Dragias, she then said "And I thought getting kicked by a horse hurt…"

"Are you still in pain?" Eldore asked

"A little…"

"Here…" Eldore said as he put his hand near Aniya's side and cast what had seemed to be a healing spell

Aniya grimaced a little as the bruises started to heal and fade. After Eldore was finished she asked "Can you teach me how to do that? It may come in real handy one day"

"Sure, it is best if I teach you a basic healing spell first though."

...

~Thirty minutes later~

...

"Thanks Eldore for the lesson. Well…it's time for me to take the next shift" Aniya spoke as she got up and grabbed her weapon

"Alright, see you soon."

Aniya had exited the tent but to her surprise neither Leonard, who she was supposed to be replacing for watch, along with Yulie, was nowhere to be found. Upon hearing a something that sounded like a splash which came from the pond nearby, she readied her weapon and started her search. Upon arriving at the pond she witnessed Leonard dancing with Princess Cisna who was in her evening gown. Nearby she noticed Yulie standing next to a tree with a frown upon her face.

"Oh…Yulie…" Aniya said softly as so they would not hear

Upon viewing the scene in its entirety Aniya had returned to the tent site, shortly followed by Yulie when immediately went into the tent, and then Leonard.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"It was an interesting night…" Aniya commented

The room was eerily silent at this point at the announcement of what had happened that night. Yulie's face was bright red and Leonard was in slight shock.

Aniya then cracked a smile and said "As I said before, there are still things to know…"

"So, you danced with the princess Leonard?" Cyrus asked glaring at Leonard

"Uh…yes…" Leonard said snapping out of his shock

"You didn't need to talk about that night!" Yulie yelled raising her hand and swung at Aniya open palmed

However Aniya had regained some of her combat senses and caught Yulie's hand with her own then spoke in a very serious tone "There are some things that should come out, don't you think?"

Aniya had released Yulie's hand and the anger in her eyes had died but still retained a saddened look on her face. Yulie remained silent for a few moments then had gotten up and made for the door, as she was walking she said: "Let's continue this in a little bit…" then left the room

The remaining people in the room were then looking straight at Aniya but were silent and remained that way for several moments. Aniya then closed her eyes and said "It's best we do continue this later…"

"Yes, I agree" Eldore finally spoke

"Stay here for a moment Leonard. Everyone, can you leave us for a minute?" Aniya asked solemnly

"Ok," Kara added in, "let's go gents."

Kara then led the men, with the exception of Leonard, out of the room and shut the door. When the door was closed completely Aniya started to speak to Leonard in a soft but stern voice, "You need to talk to Yulie, Leonard."

"I don't see how that is any of your business…" Leonard retorted

"You are right, it's not. But think about Yulie's feelings, surely you noticed them during our journeys together?"

Leonard remained silent to Aniya's question then said, "I…"

"Why do you think she was so embarrassed and angry when she left here?" Aniya continued

"I…"

"I know you love Cisna, but Yulie has not entirely given up on you, so rather than drag this out its best that Yulie hear it from your own voice."

"I…don't know how…" Leonard said weakly

"I don't want Yulie to go through what I went through…"

"…"

"Now go, Leonard, if you need me to be there when you talk to Yulie I can do that, after all I'm not going anywhere…yet"

"Alright…" Leonard finally said as he started to make for the door

Leonard opened the door slowly and opened his mouth to say something but nothing came out. He then shook his head and left the room closing the door behind him.

After the door was closed completely Aniya let out a giant sigh and spoke with voice breaking, "Dels…"

...

~Several hours later~

...

"Hey! We're back!" Yulie yelled as she burst through the door seemingly back to her normal self

"Welcome back…" Aniya said as she saw everyone come back one by one including Leonard

Leonard had given Aniya a look saying that he was not ready to talk to Yulie yet. But before Aniya could say anything to him Yulie spoke after sitting in her normal spot on Aniya's bed, "So after…that night…"

"Yes, we were in the desert…" Aniya started

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Ahhh, it's so hot!" Yulie yelled

"This is nothing" Eldore commented, "It gets hotter, the further we go…not to mention the fire djinns in this area"

Yulie then looked at Eldore, "Oh, great..."

"Once we make it to the town of Albana, we should be able to get some information" Leonard added

The group had then started to make their way through the Lagnish desert. Luckily for them the path to Albana was a straightforward one, but it was not an uneventful one. The red giants, coupled with boar like monsters made the trek more daunting than it had to be. After several hours the group had finally come to the entrance of Albana, which was oddly guarded not only by humans but toads of all things.

"Wow…" Both Yulie and Leonard said at the same time

"Look over there!" Aniya said pointing at the giant pond that the entrance of Albana overlooked, "We can get our casks filled there…"

Aniya paused mid-sentence as she noticed that there was a man near the pond she pointed out although he was too far away to make out his face. Almost as if on cue the man turned toward Aniya and waved at her.

"Aniya!" Yulie yelled "Come on we are heading inside!"

Partially shocked Aniya started back to the group but just before she took five steps she turned around and waved back at the man at the oasis. The man however was nowhere to be found.

"_A...mirage_?" Aniya thought as she turned around and headed into Albana's gate.


	5. The Lady, the Toad, and the Adventurer

Chapter 4: The Lady, the Toad, and the Adventurer

"Albana, the desert town, ruled by a Don Phibianacci" Eldore started to explain "This town is also known for its craftsmanship, many things can be made here."

"You sure know a lot Eldore," Aniya spoke

"Well, I have been traveling for some time…"

"At least its cooler here than in the desert, although only slightly…" Yulie said with a sigh

"I know what you mean…" Leonard said agreeing with her, "But enough about that, we need to get information about that monoship."

"Indeed" Yulie added "Someone must have seen it, let's ask around"

"Albana is a small town but information is always abundant" Eldore noted

"Well, the best place to get information is where people gather…" Aniya started

"Indeed," Eldore added cutting Aniya short, "Let us start at the tavern and go from there"

The group, with the exception of Aniya, nodded in agreement and began to make their way to the tavern in the square. Aniya had an upset look on her face ever since Eldore cut her off the way that he did. For the moment she shrugged it off and followed behind the three as they entered the tavern, which appeared to be very busy.

"Wow, I've never seen a place like this so busy before…" Yulie said

Upon finishing her sentence Yulie many of the tavern patrons looked upon the group, some of them with piercing eyes. Yulie then hid behind Eldore who seemed to shrug it off and shot back some glances of his own. Afterwards the patrons went back to whatever they were doing, and the group found a table and sat.

"That…was scary" Yulie said voice trembling

"Well…we aren't exactly dressed for the desert…" Aniya said then pointed at Leonard and Yulie, "And you two kind of stick out like sore thumbs the way you are dressed…"

"Hmmm, she has a point…" Eldore agreed, "Let us look for more…'appropriate' clothing later…"

"In the meantime…" Aniya said standing up, "Let's ask around here…"

Aniya then walked around the tavern and asked several of the patrons about a black monoship that may have traveled over the town. However each time she asked either she was brushed off or no one had seen or heard anything about the ship. Disappointed she made her way back to the table where her companions were sitting, and upon arrival applause erupted around them as a young blond haired woman made her way from behind the curtain to the center of the stage and began to dance.

"She's so pretty," Yulie said watching her

"Well…I couldn't get any information," Aniya started as she sat down, "Kind of…suspicious if you ask me."

"True," Eldore agreed while his eyes were seemingly locked on the young dancer, "Though I have noticed that we are being watched."

"Yeah…we should keep our guard up…" Leonard said as he took a drink of his water

"_Hmmm, where have I seen that dance before?_" Aniya thought to herself as she turned towards the dancer who was moving closer to them with every passing second

As the young woman got closer it seemed apparent to the group, Eldore in particular, that she was coming straight for them. When the woman was within five feet from the table she drew a short dagger and threw it directly at Leonard.

"Whoa!" Leonard yelled as he barely dodged the dagger which hit the table

"What did you do that for?" Yulie yelled angrily

Upon finishing her sentence a majority of the tavern patrons stood up and glared directly at the group. It was apparent to the group that the patrons in the tavern were from the Magi, and they fell into a trap.

"Step outside!" the young woman commanded with an interesting accent

With that said the patrons ushered the group outside into the town square and surrounded them. Readying their weapons the group was preparing for a rush from the enemy, but it never came. The young dancer then came outside and stood in front of the group, seemingly unimpressed.

"Who are you?" Leonard asked demandingly, "Are you with the Magi?"

"We were hired to take you out…that is all you need to know…" the young woman answered mockingly

"Get ready Leonard!" Eldore warned as the patrons started their attack

The enemies were numerous but unarmored; as such it made is slightly easier to dispatch them. However with each one that was felled it seemed like another took that one's place. The group had dispatched six enemies when exhaustion finally took over.

"We…can't keep this up…forever…" Aniya said between breaths

"Yeah…how many are there?" Yulie agreed as she took a knee

"Yulie!" Aniya yelled as she saw that an enemy was preparing to strike Yulie

As Yulie looked up she saw the attacker, and felt that her time had indeed come, but mere seconds before the attack came the assailant was tackled and knocked to the ground by a mysterious man with shoulder length dark red hair dressed in Albana style clothing and seemed like an ordinary citizen, but Aniya knew otherwise.

"Another adventurer…out here?" Aniya said slowly

The man then looked at Aniya, who seemed only one year older than she, then spoke with a smile "Hello again"

"_Again?_" Aniya thought to herself

"Don't know who you are, but thanks" Yulie said as she got up

"You alright Yulie?" Leonard said as he rushed to Yulie's side

"Yeah…"

With the mysterious man's help the group dealt with the remaining enemies. Outmatched the enemies started to retreat and the young woman stepped forward once again, this time weapon in hand but did not attack, instead looked around disappointingly at her felled compatriots.

"Worthless…" the lady said as she pulled out a blue colored card with a bizarre design

"That…can't be!" Eldore said terrified

"Adveni!" the lady spoke as the card disappeared, then herself and in her place stood a monster which the group had never seen

"W-What is THAT?" Yulie said terrified

"A 'Gigas'," Eldore started to explain, "A being from the void…"

"Whoa…so another Knight?" Leonard asked with a shock

"No…very different from a Knight"

"This is no time for questions Leonard!" Yulie yelled, "Right now we need your knight!"

"Right!" Leonard said as he readied his ark

Meanwhile Aniya was standing back to back with the mysterious man, as they both were dealing with the stragglers. The man had picked up an axe from one of the felled enemies they had defeated, and was wielding it like a professional.

"What did you mean 'again'?" Aniya finally spoke

"Just what I meant" the man answered

"We never met…"

"Not directly no…"

"Wait…the oasis" Aniya said with a shock as she finally realized

"Yup" the man said with a smile

Finally dispatching the last of the enemies, the two turned to the battle between Leonard and the young woman, who were in Knight and Gigas forms respectively. The match was one-sided as Leonard was becoming more and more adept at using his Knight whereas the Gigas, although strong, was very slow. Seeing a chance Leonard saw an opening and struck the Gigas in a seemingly vital spot and caused the beast to kneel in pain.

"Grraaaa!" the beast roared

The sounds from the roar seemed to shake the ground, and upon finishing the monster "disappeared" and in its place was the woman once again. Seemingly finished Leonard return to his human form and walked over to the woman who was still on one knee grimacing with pain.

"Damn you…" the lady said under her breath as she passed out

"Let's get her inside" Yulie suggested

The group nodded as Leonard picked her up and headed for the inn. A short time later the young woman woke up with a start and to her surprise found the group standing over her, watching her carefully.

"What happened?" the woman asked

"The Gigas had almost completely taken over" Eldore started to explain

"You said you were hired to take us out?" Leonard asked

"Yes…" the woman said reluctantly, and angrily

"How much did they pay you?" Eldore asked walking up

"Nothing…" she said as she started to stand

"Then why?" Leonard asked puzzled

"I had no choice…have my Lena, my sister!" she said as her eyes started to tear, "Now that I've failed they will probably kill her!"

"We won't let that happen!" Yulie said confidently

"I suppose once you 'dealt' with us you were to meet with them" Eldore questioned, "Where was it going to be?"

"At some ruins outside the south gate…" the woman said, "But…"

"Let's get going then!" Leonard said interrupting her

"Fine, let me get my gear first" the woman spoke "My name is Kara by the way..."

After Kara got her gear and weapon group started making their way to the south gate and finally had a chance to catch their breath when they all finally realized that despite what had happened in the square the populace seemed to not notice, or care, what had just transpired. In fact everything looked the way it did as if they had just walked into town.

"They thought it was just an everyday brawl" the man spoke seemingly reading everyone's mind

"Ah yes, thanks again for your assistance" Leonard spoke finally realizing the man that had helped was still among them

"No problem"

"Hmmm, you don't seem like an ordinary citizen" Eldore said cautiously, "Who are you?"

"Oh that's right; I believe introductions are in order" the man started, "My name is Dels, and I'm an adventurer, though I haven't been 'adventuring' much lately."

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"…That is where we met you Kara…and Dels, for the first time" Aniya said as she grabbed a glass of water on the table

"Yes" Kara said as she turned to Leonard, "I never did thank you for 'saving' me back then, if I had stayed in that form for much longer…"

"You all have been through a lot" Cyrus added in

"Yeah, the desert, the Gigas, the…Toads" Leonard said with a chuckle

The room was filled with chuckles from everyone except Cyrus who did not understand what was so funny. As the chuckles died down the group turned to Aniya again as she sat the glass back down on the table.

"Speaking of the toads…" Aniya said continuing her story

…

**~PAST~**

...

The group had arrived at the southern gate when they were turned away by the guards for not having a pass, and were informed that they needed to speak to "The Don" in order to obtain one. Disgruntled the group made their way to the Don's residence.

"Oi! What is it you lot want?" a green toad said at the group as they approached the Don's home

"Uh…we are here to see the Don," Leonard started to explain, "We need a pass to get through the south gate"

"Oh, really? And why should the Don give you lot a pass?" another, seemingly older, toad spoke

"It's very important we get through!" Yulie said pleadingly

"Why should we care?" the younger toad spoke, "Unless, you are REALLY desperate for one…"

"Give us a sec, alright?" the older toad said as the two toads stepped off to the side for a private conversation

"Heh, I should have warned you about the toads," Dels started, "They like to…strike deals when you least expect it"

"Great…" Aniya spoke with a sigh

"Right then, sorry to keep you waitin'" the older toad spoke, "There is a way you can gain a pass, and fix a problem we are currently havin'."

"And that is?" Kara asked

"Well you see the Don is sick," the young toad started to explain, "With love of all things, with another woman"

"But the Don is married see, and he can't sneak out otherwise the missus would notice," the older toad continued

"So to solve this problem all you lot have to do is take this love letter that the Don wrote to a lady named Verruca, and all our problems are solved"

"Wait a sec, why don't you two take the letter yourselves?" Leonard asked quizzically

"Hmmm, a fair question," the older toad spoke, "But frankly who would want any part of this stu-"

"Eheheh, we aren't exactly equipped for desert travel, not like yourselves," the younger toad said knocking the other toad down, "Well, off you go then."

"Might as well, we won't get anywhere without that pass," Yulie said with a sigh

"Don Phibianacci rules Albana, and he is the only one who issues those passes," Kara explained

"Back into the desert huh?" Leonard spoke with a sarcastic voice

"Yeah…" Aniya said agreeing

"Hmmm, how are we looking on funds?" Eldore asked

"One sec…" Yulie said looking into the money pouch, "ten…thirty…nine-hundred…we are very low, at this rate we won't have enough for gear or food at this rate"

"I see…" Eldore started, "In that case let's split up; one group can make some money here in town, while the other can deliver the letter"

"Agreed" Leonard spoke

"I'll stay here" Aniya said volunteering, "Who's staying with me?"

"I want to see this 'Verruca'" Yulie said

"As do I, I want to know who the Don has feelings for outside his wife…" Kara said agreeing with Yulie

"Leonard, Eldore?" Aniya said almost pleadingly

"I've got to go I have the Knight, and there are a lot of dangerous monsters out there" Leonard spoke scratching his head

"That is true" Dels said reinforcing Leonard's claim

"Hey!" Aniya yelled and glared at Dels

"I have no talent outside of battle so I can't help here" Eldore finally spoke, "It seems you are in charge of making money Aniya"

With that the group, with the exception of Aniya and Dels, made their way outside the north gate, back into the desert and to the oasis in search of Verruca. Aniya, staring at the gate in almost complete disbelief, turned towards Dels in hope she could find some manner of comfort.

"I…can't believe it…" Aniya finally said

"Are you alright?" Dels said trying to comfort her

"It's whatever…I was alone before I started this journey; I guess I will be alone through it too…" Aniya said with a said expression

"Don't worry I'll help you"

"Thanks, but don't you have things to do?"

"Not really" Dels explained, "When you saw me at the oasis earlier I was doing a quest, I made some good money doing it"

"You don't have to-"

"Don't worry" Dels said cutting her off, "I make a lot of money simply slaying the monster around here and selling the items I can craft off their corpses"

"Dressed like that?" Aniya asked puzzled

"Heh, I'm sturdier than I look" Dels said puffing his chest out

"That you do" Aniya said with a laugh

"First let's head to my 'home' I need to grab a few things"

The two then headed to Dels "home" which surprised Aniya greatly as it was only a very small tent in the proverbial slums of Albana, and although it was small it served as Dels' home and he seemed proud of it.

"Give me a moment please" Dels said to Aniya as he entered his tent and closed the entrance

Aniya waited outside for what seemed like an eternity and when Dels' came out he looked very different from when he entered, and this surprised Aniya even more than when she saw where he was living. Dels' was in very heavy looking armor and had a very large battle-axe strapped to his back.

"Uh, remind me never to get on your bad side…" Aniya said slightly fearful

"You have nothing to fear from me, I doubt you ever could anyways" Dels said while laughing

"I have to ask: if you make so much money, why do you live here?" Aniya asked

Dels remained silent for a moment then spoke, "I give money to some of the poor here, I leave just enough to get by on my own"

"I see…"

"It's not so bad, nor is the Don if you are wondering"

Aniya remained silent

"You'll understand when you meet him, anyways lets go" Dels said as he took Aniya by the hand

"Where are we going?" Aniya said slightly blushing

"You'll see" Dels said with a slight smile

The two came upon the southern gate once more, however this time Dels showed something to the guard and the two were allowed to pass. Aniya was being surprised by Dels more and more as time passed. Upon passing through the gate the two came to the southern region of the Lagnish Desert.

"Hey" Aniya started with a slightly angry tone, "If you had a pass, why didn't you say so in the beginning?"

"If I had you guys wouldn't have gotten one for yourselves" Dels started, "And besides, it's better this way"

"Okay…" Aniya said with a sigh

"So how long have you been adventuring?" Dels asked

"So you could tell, huh?"

"An adventurer can always spot another"

"That is true, I instinctively knew you were one during that fight in town"

"And I knew you were one when I saw you at the oasis" Dels paused, "But anyways, we don't have a lot of time so let's get this done quick"

"So what are we doing?"

"A quest of monster hunting" Dels started, "Well, for the meat of some anyways"

"ewww, monster meat?" Aniya said slightly disgusted

"You'd be surprised how good it is" Dels said with a laugh, "And the reward for this quest is ten-thousand"

"Nice" Aniya said with a smile

"Let's go!" said as he drew his weapon and led Aniya

...

**~PRESENT~**

…

"So that's how you made the money that time" Yulie said slightly surprised

"I learned a lot from Dels when I traveled with him even though it was a short time then" Aniya explained

"Now I am starting to understand" Eldore said slowly

Aniya looked at Eldore then down at her hands and remained silent. The rest of the group looked at each other in silence for a moment, and then Aniya snapped out of her reverie.

"But anyways…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

A short time later the two adventurers, finishing their quest, returned to Albana and found the rest of the group waiting for them. Aniya waved to the group while Dels went in the direction to turn in the quest.

"Hey, when did you all get back?" Aniya asked as she ran up to them

"Just now" Eldore spoke with a serious tone, "So you were traveling with him for a while?"

"Yeah, we were making some money" Aniya started to explain

"I don't think you should trust him" Eldore interrupted, "We don't know him…"

"I trust him more th…" Aniya started but then stopped herself, "Never mind. Anyways did you all deliver the letter?"

"Yeah, and you will be surprised who Verruca is" Leonard spoke with excitement in his voice

"Not more than what I found out about Dels" Aniya said under her breath

"Shall we get going?" Kara said impatiently

The group nodded and proceeded to the Don's residence, upon arrival the older toad ushered the group into the Don's home and brought them before the Don himself. When the group entered the Don's chambers they were witness to a very humorous sight: the Don helplessly being berated by his wife who was much smaller than the Don himself.

"My love, you know I have feelings for no one but you" the Don pleaded

"Ribbit, rib-ribbit RIBBIT!" the lady spoke though only the Don and the other toads understood her

"Oi! It took you lot long enough!" the young toad said as he noticed the group

"It's a long way to the Oasis" Yulie said

"Bah, excuses, excuses" the older toad added

The younger toad looked back towards the couple then again to Leonard and spoke, "Misses Phibianacci a group from Verruca has come!"

This caused the couple to stop quarreling and made them pay attention to the group, the lady toad in particular. The young toad then pretended to berate the group, and pretended to receive a message from Verruca, noting that she read the letter Phibianacci sent to her and that she was heartbroken that he turned her down. This seemed to sate the anger from Phibianacci's wife as she retreated to her chambers.

"Whew…Crisis resolved…" the older toad said with a sigh

"So, uh do you have a message from this Verruca?" the young toad asked Leonard

"Uh, yeah…" Leonard said as he pulled out the return letter from Verruca

"Alright then," the older toad said as he took the letter and began to read it, "'Dear Phibianacci, thank you for your kind letter. While I am very flattered I can never leave the oasis to live near you, as I cannot live very long outside the water. I am afraid our love is to remain…unconsummated'"

A silence fell onto the room as the older toad finished reading the letter as everyone, especially Phibianacci, was surprised to its content. The silence was finally broken as Phibianacci too k the letter from the toad and read it himself, and found that he could not hold in his emotion as he started to weep uncontrollably. A few moments later the Don regained his composure and addressed the group directly.

"Ah, I must apologize for that domestic display" the Don started, "You all must be the group who delivered my letter to Verruca, I must reward you. What is it you desire? Ask and if it is within my power I will grant it."

"We need a pass for the South Gate, we want to go to the ruins" Leonard spoke

"Ah, but a simple matter!" the Don said slightly surprised, "But that can hardly be a reward for what you have done…"

"Boss, how's about…" the older toad spoke as he whispered into the Don's ear

"Ahh an excellent Idea…" the Don started

"Hey Aniya," a familiar voice came from behind

As Aniya turned around she realized the voice came from Dels, it seemed he was watching the show. Sneaking away from the group Aniya made her way to Dels side who was just outside the door to the Don's chamber, and upon arrival he gave her a very large bag.

"What's this?" Aniya questioned

"Silly, it's the quest reward, did you forget?" Dels joked with a smile

"No, but…" Aniya paused as she counted how much was in the bag, "It seems like more than what you mentioned"

"I added a little more in there" Dels explained, "Remember how I said I made money off monster parts? Some of it was from that"

"Oh yeah, you told me about that."

"Anyways, take care Aniya," Dels said as he started to make his way out

"What are you going to do now?" Aniya asked

"I think I am going to start travelling again" Dels said as he turned around to face Aniya

"Nothing is certain these days not with the Magi about, so be careful…"

"Always…"

With that Dels made his way outside and out of Aniya's view, while Aniya herself made her way back to the group bag in hand. The group was finishing up the talks with the Don who had granted them access to the binding posts on top of giving them a pass to the south gate. With the task done the group made their way outside.

"Well that was…interesting" Eldore said with a smirk

"Yeah, the Don was a funny character," Yulie said chuckling

"I suppose so," Kara added chuckling with her

"Yeah, anyways," Leonard said then addressed Aniya, "How much did you make?"

"Oh, yeah" Aniya said as she presented the bag given to her by Dels, "About seventeen-thousand gald"

"Wow" Yulie said surprised, "So much in such a short time"

"Thank Dels," Aniya added, "He helped me…"

"Where is he now?" Eldore questioned

"He's going to travel again," Aniya paused, "We might run into him again"

"Well now that we have some money we can upgrade our gear" Leonard spoke pointing at the shop

The group agreed and made their way to the gear shop, upon entry the group spread out and picked what they wanted. Weapon wise Leonard had picked a new sword and shield, Eldore picked out a new sword only, Yulie got a bow, whereas Aniya picked up a Claymore much to everyone's surprise. Completing their shopping Yulie and Leonard got something more appropriate for the desert, and stocked up on healing items, then headed outside towards the south gate.

"Here we go!" Leonard yelled

"I am coming Lena…" Kara said under her breath

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"When I traveled with Dels in that part of the Lagnish desert, I learned something about the enemies in that area…" Aniya started, "When we were traveling to the ruins I tried to veer us away from enemies that could have taken us out before we got to it…even with the Knight Leonard"

"True, some of the monsters in the desert were tough" Leonard agreed, "We fought some deadly monsters on our way to and from the oasis"

"Indeed" Kara added, "You weren't with us then but Leonard struggled a bit against some of the monsters, especially the 'lion'"

"That type of monster…" Aniya said with a frown, "…is annoying"

The group nodded in agreement to Aniya's statement.

"I have a question Kara…" Aniya said as she looked at Kara herself

"What is it?" Kara asked cautiously

"…Was Lena really your sister? Or was that a ploy?"

Kara remained silent for a moment then spoke, "She wasn't my sister, though for the time I was in Albana, I befriended her…mainly for the reason that she looked like me to some degree"

"I see…" Aniya said slowly

"Does that matter?" Eldore interjected

"No, I was just curious," Aniya answered

"Thinking back on it now, what Belcitane did was unforgivable, regardless whether or not she was my sister" Kara spoke with anger in her voice

"It wasn't your fault Kara" Yulie reassured her, "You were misled back then"

"But still…"

"She is right Kara," Aniya interrupted, "I was only curious I'm sorry for bringing up a terrible memory"

"It's alright…" Kara said slowly

"Moving along we made our way through the southern portion of the Lagnish desert and arrived at the ruins" Aniya said continuing

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Cisna!" Leonard yelled as he reached the top of the stairs in the ruins

"Leonard!" the young princess yelled back

"Oh? On a first name basis now are we?" Belcitane said mocking Leonard

"Where is Lena? Where is my sister?" Kara demanded

"Ah, Kara I see you have failed at the mission we gave you…such a pity."

"Damn you…" Leonard said angrily as he started to step forward

"Ah, ah, ah…" Belcitane said as he drew a dagger and put it to the princess' throat then said, "Now then, if you don't want your precious princess hurt surrender the ark…"

"Grrr…"

"Do it Leonard…" Eldore said reluctantly

Doing as Eldore said Leonard placed the Knight's Ark down in front of Belcitane and backed up slowly. Putting away the blade Belcitane then put on a big grin as he approached the ark and proceeded to pick it up, however, just like Aniya before him, he was blown back and a bright light enveloped the area blinding all present. Seeing this chance Kara moved to the princess' side and brought her over to the rest of the group.

"What the hell?" Belcitane asked angrily

"Don't you know?" Eldore started with a smile, "Only the pactmaker may touch the ark"

"Fine then, we will do this the hard way!" Belcitane said as he motioned toward the soldiers near him

Three of the five soldiers stepped forward seemingly with the intention of attacking the group, however they all stopped in front of them and pulled out cards similar to the one used by Kara earlier. Completely in sync with each other all three uttered the word "Adveni" and blinding flashes of light erupted from their chests causing them to disappear, and reappear as three Gigas.

"How could they?" Kara asked completely puzzled

"Soldier's following orders blindly…" Eldore said somewhat sadly

"Fools…" Aniya said agreeing with him

"I don't think I can handle all three at once" Leonard said uncertain

"Don't worry we have your back Leonard" Yulie said reassuring him

"Thanks Yulie" Leonard said as he readied his ark, and then spoke "Verto!"

Once again Leonard was in his Knight form and proceeded to fight the three Gigas alongside his companions. The fight was hard fought as all three were as equally as strong as Leonard in his Knight form, so strong in fact that Yulie, Eldore, Aniya, and even Kara were virtually powerless against them. Just before Eldore was crushed underfoot by one of the Gigas Dels appeared and pushed him out of the way, barely getting out of harm's way himself.

"Dels?" Aniya asked completely surprised, "What are you doing here?"

"I'll explain later!" Dels commented as he slashed one of the Gigas across the chest knocking it down

"Whoa!" Yulie said in utter disbelief at Dels strength

"Thanks again," Leonard said as he dispatched another of the Gigas

Teaming up on the third Gigas the group quickly dispatched it allowing them to gain a much needed breather, however all three of the Gigas stood up once again seemingly refreshed.

"Not too shabby…" Belcitane said mockingly, "Did you know that Gigas can become more powerful when merged together?"

Upon finishing his sentence Belcitane snapped his fingers and from behind the three Gigas appeared a young blond girl, Kara knew immediately who it was.

"Lena!" Kara yelled

"However…" Belcitane continued as he pulled out another card, this one red in color, "Sadly such a feat requires a human sacrifice, and since you forced my hand…"

"He wouldn't!" Yulie said terrified

Placing the card near the young lady's head the card glowed and a bright flash of light appeared; amidst the light the screams of the girl could be heard. Kara started to run forward in the attempt to save Lena, but Leonard stopped her with his leg, and when the light subsided the three Gigas had become one large beast with three heads.

"You demon!" Dels yelled

"Leonard…please…" Kara pleaded, "My sister is gone…promise me you will kill that Gigas"

"I will..." Leonard said with anger in his voice

Leonard then engaged the beast alone with the rest of the group hanging back for they knew that this time they would be no help whatsoever, but Leonard himself was no match for this combined monster, it easily overpowered him. Seeing this Cisna suddenly felt a jolt inside her body, and uttered an incantation no one could understand, afterwards part of a pillar near them crumbled away revealing a shield. Seeing the chance Leonard grabbed it and it seemed to give him the upper hand in dealing with the massive monster, allowing him to deflect the monsters blows and occasionally stun it. With one final strike Leonard struck the beast a mortal blow killing it causing it to explode, and leaving nothing but dust in the air.

"Let me go!" Cisna screamed

Belcitane had recaptured her during the closing moments of the battle, and overhead the black monoship they have been chasing appeared once again and dropped an "anchor" which Belcitane with Cisna in tow stepped on.

"Damn it you won't get away!" Leonard commanded

"Until next time!" Belcitane said mocking the group as the anchor took them both away

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"So you all failed to retrieve the princess then…" Cyrus said with a very serious tone

"Yes…sadly" Leonard answered with a sorrowful tone

"That is my fault" Kara added, "I left her alone so that Belcitane could get a hold of her again"

"I see…" Cyrus said as he glared at Kara

"It's unimportant," Eldore interrupted, "We got her back in the end, which is all that matters"

"True, everything worked out in the end," Yulie added

"Wow…" Aniya said with a surprise after looking outside, "It's already afternoon"

"You have been talking for a while," Kara joked, "Let's take a break here and continue in a little bit."

"Yeah…I'm starting to get a little hungry actually," Yulie said shyly

"Ok, then lets continue this in a little while," Aniya suggested

"I'll bring you some food Aniya," Cyrus said with a smile

"Uh…you can cook Cyrus?" Yulie asked puzzled

"Well…well enough for myself I suppose…"

"No-no-no-no, I'll cook for her," Yulie said hurriedly

Everyone in the room laughed at the small debate between Yulie and Cyrus. Shortly afterward, one by one, everyone left the room leaving Aniya by herself again. Picking up the Knight's Ark off the she looked deeply into the orb looking for something, but saw nothing, and with a sigh she put it back down on the table.

* * *

A/N: In case you are wondering, Dels was my second character in the game, Aniya was my first


	6. The Sword and the Dragon

Chapter 5: The Sword and the Dragon

Sometime later Yulie and Cyrus both walked into Aniya's room with the former carrying a tray of food, whereas the latter seemed to have a sour look on his face but Aniya brushed it off. Yulie placed the tray on the table next to the bed and handed Aniya a bowl full of soup along with a spoon.

Aniya chuckled a little then spoke, "Just like on our journey, huh?"

"Yep!" Yulie said with a huge grin

Aniya looked over at Cyrus, who still had a sour face, then spoke, "What's wrong Cyrus? You look like someone just kicked your favorite dog."

"Oh, don't mind him" Yulie interrupted chuckling, "He's just mad because I wouldn't let him cook."

"Oh…"

"Soup though Yulie?" Cyrus finally said

"What's wrong with soup?" Yulie said putting her hands on her hips

Aniya then began laughing at the two quarreling which in turn caused them to laugh slightly. Aniya then looked down at the bowl and thought about the journey she had with Dels, her laugher then turned into a frown.

"What's wrong Aniya?" Yulie said trying to console her

"It's nothing…" Aniya paused for a moment then said, "Anyways Yulie, Eldore tells me you work as a wine courier?"

"Yes, I was hoping to be able to see everyone despite being spread out" Yulie then frowned, "But I don't see Leonard that much…"

"I see…"

"So tell me about Red Horn Aniya…" Cyrus spoke with a serious tone

"All in due time Cyrus…" Aniya said back equally serious, "Besides not everyone is here."

"Fine…" Cyrus said before he started towards the door, "I'll be back later."

Aniya watched as Cyrus left the room leaving her and Yulie alone. Yulie at that point urged Aniya to eat before the soup had gotten cold, and the young lady had done what she was told. After finishing the soup Yulie had taken back the bowl and put it on the tray and prepared to leave.

"You know Aniya…" Yulie spoke with a sad but serious tone, "I don't hate you for what happened."

Aniya remained silent as Yulie started to walk towards the door, but just before she walked out of the room completely Aniya spoke, "You might not…but I hate myself."

This caused Yulie to stop in her tracks and she half turned to face Aniya who had a very sad look on her face, Yulie said nothing but put on a frown as she walked out the door. Not long after Kara had entered the room with a very serious look on her face.

"Kara…" Aniya said softly then put her head down

"I just passed Yulie, she seemed sad" Kara said seriously

Aniya was silent for a moment then spoke, "She said she didn't hate me…" then she looked up at Kara, "Do you?"

Kara was caught completely by surprise at Aniya's question, to the point that she stood speechless. Any words she tried to say came out as stammers, but after a few moments Kara regained her composure and walked over to Aniya's bedside and sat down next to her. For the next few moments Kara did not speak and just looked out the window seemingly staring into space, and then turned towards Aniya.

"After what happened, I was so angry with you…" Kara started, "I kind of still am…"

"I see…" Aniya said turning her face away from Kara

"But…" Kara continued, "I don't hate you."

"And why not?" Aniya said slowly

Kara remained silent for a moment then spoke, "I may have done the same thing if I was in your place…"

"You think so huh?" Aniya said as she turned to Kara

Kara had opened her mouth to speak, however was cut short when she heard the door opening and through it came the rest of the group, Cyrus and Yulie included. Everyone took their usual places with the exception of Kara, who stayed where she sat and Yulie who sat on the other side of the bed.

"Well…now that everyone is back…" Aniya spoke as she was about to continue

"Wait…" Eldore interrupted as he pulled out a sheathless sword with purplish glowing runes running along the blade then spoke, "I think this is yours…"

"So…you remade it…" Aniya said softly but loud enough so everyone heard, "The Witchblade…"

"Yes…" Eldore said as he leaned the weapon against the bed

"It took a long time to remake it" Cyrus spoke as he looked at the weapon then added, "Where did you get it from?"

"Dels helped create it actually…" Aniya started, "The original weapon came from that mountain…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

Shortly after the battle with the Gigas the group lamented their chance to rescue the princess, as well as failing at saving Lena, Kara's sister. Off to the side Dels and Aniya were having a small conversation of their own.

"What are you doing here?" Aniya asked

"I saw a flash of light coming from this place as I was passing by," Dels started to explain, "When I got here I saw you all in trouble."

"Huh…" Aniya said not entirely convinced

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"Oh come on…" Dels said sounding almost desperate, "You think I'm following you?"

"A little…" Aniya said as she glared at him

"Okay…" Dels said as he gave in, "I was worried so I wanted to make sure you guys were alright…"

"Oh…" Aniya said blushing slightly

"Aniya!" Eldore shouted, "Let's go!"

"Coming!" Aniya shouted back, and then spoke to Dels, "Coming with us?"

"No, I'm going to head towards Balandor first then who knows where."

"Too bad…" Aniya said with slight disappointment, "We could use someone as strong as you."

"Oh I'm sure you and your friends will become even stronger than me some day." Dels said with a smile

"Hurry up you!" Kara yelled

"I'm coming!" Aniya yelled back then paused as she turned to Dels again, "Well I have to get going before they hang me or something, see you around."

"I'll see you!" Dels yelled as he waved to Aniya who was running to catch up with her companions

Upon catching up to her companions Aniya was scolded by Eldore who was warning about trusting Dels, however Aniya defended him saying they have nothing to fear from him. Afterwards the group returned to Albana to replenish their supplies then made their way out into the desert again.

"So where are we headed?" Aniya asked

"That's right you were talking to Dels when we found out" Kara started, "We are heading for Greede."

"So…we have to go through Flander Trail then?" Aniya asked

"Indeed" Eldore answered

"Wait a moment," Aniya said then turned to Kara, "You're coming with us?"

"Of course!" Kara replied slightly angry, "I will make them pay for Lena!"

"Ah, yes…your sister…"

"Let's get moving" Leonard finally spoke

The group nodded in agreement and continued through the desert, towards Flander Trail. Upon entry to the trail the group took up camp for the evening and during it had a short conversation with Cisna via Eldore's bird, and learned of the Ark in the Bunker Lode Caverns. The next morning the group continued through the Flanders and upon coming to a fork in the road the group, primarily Yulie, was entranced by the sight of blue crystal formations jutting from the mountain path.

"Wow…" Yulie voiced

"Many items, primarily jewelry, comes from this mountain," Eldore started to explain, "What you see on this path is what they are made from."

"There is also a very rare version, a red colored one" Aniya added

"Think we'll see it on our way up?" Yulie asked

"Not likely," Kara spoke, "Besides we aren't here to sightsee let's get going."

"Aww…" Yulie complained

"By the way Kara, is Greede up or down now?" Eldore asked

"It is the mining off season so I believe it's down." Kara answered

"Hmmm, that will be problematic…"

"What do you mean 'down'?" Leonard asked

"You'll see…" Kara said with a smirk

There was a slight pause then Aniya spoke, "You guys go on ahead, and I'll catch up with you in a bit."

"Where are you going?" Leonard asked

"Just…paying my respects" Aniya answered as she took the left path whereas the rest of the group went to the right

Aniya continued up the path she took and not long after she came to an old cabin, which was seemingly abandoned. On the side of cottage was a slightly raised patch of dirt with a grave marked with only one word: Grandfather. Aniya went over to the grave and kneeled in front of it.

"Hey grandpa," Aniya started to speak aloud, "It's been a while since I came to visit. I made some friends just like you told me to; I wish you were here to see me now. I also met a guy named Dels; he seems like a nice guy, he always seems to be there when I need him the most."

Aniya then stood up and looked around as a mild wind howled through the path; she then proceeded inside the cabin itself. Against the wall was a five and a half foot sword, excluding the grip, which was almost as long as she was tall. Aniya grabbed the sword from its resting place and went outside to the grave again.

"Grandpa, you told me before that I wasn't ready for this" Aniya spoke with a sad tone, "But you also said I would know when I was…I hope you were right."

Strapping the weapon to her back Aniya said her farewells and proceeded down the path back to the fork in the road. In her mind Aniya was thinking back to her grandfather and the words about the weapon she took from the cabin.

…

~Aniya's Past – Four Years ago~

…

"Hey grandpa," A younger Aniya spoke as she pointed towards the large weapon, "When will I be able to handle that sword?"

"Oh, you will know when the time comes," An older gentleman, who was almost twice as tall as Aniya, spoke as he readied his weapon, "Now come at me Aniya!"

"Here I come!" Aniya yelled as she charged towards the man who seemed unfazed by her charge

"You are still sloppy Aniya…"

The man easily parried all of Aniya's attacks; however he didn't seem to use any strength in his effort. After many blocked and parried attacks from Aniya the man seemed unimpressed and quickly disarmed her, much to the surprise of Aniya herself.

"How?" Aniya said in disbelief

"You use anger in your attacks," the man started to explain, "Anger clouds judgement, and leaves you open to attacks, but most of all can make you forget who is friend or foe…"

"Forget who is friend or foe?" Aniya asked as she picked up her weapon

"Yes," the man said as he sat down and called Aniya over to his side, "But that is in extreme circumstances."

"Like?" Aniya asked intrigued

"Don't worry about it, but if you continue to use anger you will never be ready for that," he said as he pointed at the sword, "But you, and only you, will know when you are ready…"

"Aww…" Aniya protested

"Ah, Ah, Ah," the man said as he raised a finger, "No complaints."

"Ok grandpa," Aniya relented then stood up and readied her weapon, "Can we go again?"

"Sure," the man then chuckled and stood up as well, "You sure like to work an old man to death."

The two then proceeded to get into their stances and readied for another training session…

…

~Present Day~

…

Aniya sighed slightly as she returned from her reverie. Continuing up the path Aniya, still alone, carved her way through many of the monsters on the trail. Along the way she was noticing roaring sounds that seemed to come louder and louder the higher she went.

"Dragons…" Aniya said to herself

This caused Aniya to double her speed up the mountain in hopes she could assist them should they be in trouble. However at some points she was slowed by Giants and other monsters, but she finally made it to the summit of Flander Trail, and shortly past she saw her companions engaged in combat with a silver-like dragon. Aniya attempted to yell towards her friends however she was knocked out from behind.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"I assume that was you Kara…" Aniya said as she looked at Kara

"Yes, it was…" Kara replied

"I do wonder though what did happen to that dragon?" Aniya asked

"I killed it…" Kara replied again, and then added "In my Knight form…"

"Well…whatever, what's done is done" Aniya said slowly

"So," Eldore started, "Your grandfather's sword was the first catalyst for this one?"

"Yes," Aniya answered, and then added "Though…he wasn't my 'real' grandfather…"

"Then, who was he?" Leonard asked

"He was someone who took care of me after my parents died."

"I'm so sorry" Yulie said sadly

"It's ok, it was a long time ago that it happened," Aniya paused as she looked around the room, "Besides everyone here has lost someone in some way."

"True…" Cyrus said as he looked down at the ground

"Your 'grandfather' taught you how to fight?" Eldore asked with interest

"Yes, almost everything I know came from him," Aniya paused, "But enough of that, moving on…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Ughh…" Aniya groaned then looked up to see Kara crouched in front of her

"You alright?" Kara asked extending her hand

"Yeah…" Aniya answered as she took Kara's hand

The two proceeded to the rest of the group who were not too far away.

"Kara, Aniya where were you two?" Yulie asked

"Unconscious…" Kara replied

"Ebonwings was looking for the dragon that guards the Knight's Ark," Eldore started as he looked at Kara and Aniya sternly then away, "Dragons do not tolerate those that kill their kin, we need to get away from here."

"Let's hurry to the caverns then!" Leonard added

Eldore nodded, "Indeed, but first we need to go through Greede"

Aniya, who was still rubbing the back of her head, turned towards Kara as the group continued on the trail and asked, "What knocked you out Kara? Only thing I remember was being hit on the head."

"The dragon thrashed about, so I'm guessing a rock," Kara replied, "I think it was the same with you."

"I see"

"Also," Kara said as she pointed towards Aniya's new weapon, "What's with that sword?"

"Oh, this?" Aniya said as she took the weapon from her back, "It's a memento; I grew up on this mountain."

"You grew up here?" Yulie asked

"Yeah, I haven't come back here in a long time though." Aniya replied

"It looks…unwieldly" Leonard added

"Looks can be deceiving…" Eldore commented, "But enough, let us continue."

With Eldore's comment Aniya re-strapped the weapon to her back and the group continued along the trail to a settlement with a station for the gondolas to Greede. Upon witnessing the gondola Leonard was entranced by it, and Kara aimed a sly smile at him.

"Look like fun Leonard?" Kara asked still smiling

"What? Uh…no" Leonard said with surprise

"We just need to wait our turn for the gondola, which shouldn't take long," Eldore explained

"Does it cost anything?" Yulie asked

"Surprisingly, no," Eldore answered

"By the way, do you know why they call it 'Greede'?" Aniya asked the group

Leonard and Yulie shook their heads while Eldore and Kara stood firm.

"Since we have to wait for a little bit," Aniya said as she sat down on a nearby bench, "Greede was founded by a group of miners who discovered the wealth of minerals in this area. After a short time people flocked to this area attracted to the wealth, and eventually a town was sprung from it. Of course during all of this with all the revenue coming in there was some infighting, people arguing over money and other things, and that is how 'Greede' got its name."

"What about that giant monster?" Yulie asked

"The Demithor?" Aniya asked, and then replied "No one really knows."

"You certainly know a lot about Greede's origins," Eldore commented

"Well, I did grow up in this area," Aniya replied, "It is a well-known story in these parts, but anyways…"

Aniya pointed towards the pier as the gondola pulled up causing everyone to turn towards it. Gathering their things the group boarded the gondola and proceeded to Greede.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"It's amazing how your memento of your grandfather turned into this" Eldore commented as he picked up the Witchblade

"I wouldn't call it amazing, though it was definitely something" Aniya replied

"Even though we traveled together for so long Aniya," Leonard started, "You never talked about yourself."

Aniya remained silent for a moment, and then spoke coldly "Would you even have listened back then?"

This caused the room to go deathly silent as no one was expecting that kind of question. The silence lasted for several moments and was broken by Cyrus.

"Based on that question Aniya, I am assuming that there is some tension between all of you" Cyrus commented

"In a way…" Aniya replied, "But I'm sorry I shouldn't have said that…"

"In a way you have a right to…" Kara spoke

"Hmmm, indeed," Eldore nodded

"Maybe…but what's done is done," Aniya spoke

"It would be nice to know more about you," Leonard added, "I know it is a bit late but still…"

"Yeah," Yulie agreed, "Apart from fighting alongside us, Dels, and now about your grandfather, we know nothing about your past."

"Yes, that way we can understand better," Eldore added

"Are you sure?" Aniya asked

Everyone in the room nodded

"Okay then…" Aniya started

…

**~PAST~**

…

Aniya chuckled as she looked at Leonard, then spoke "You okay Leonard?"

"I'm…uh…fine," Leonard spoke while covering his mouth slightly

"Leonard you look pale," Yulie started, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"He's just airsick," Kara said chuckling, "It happens to a lot of people, he'll get over it."

During all of this Eldore was off to the side chuckling to himself. A short time later the gondola docked at the port in Greede. Still pale, Leonard stumbled out of the gondola and onto the platform and took in large gulps of air.

"Glad that's…over with…" Leonard said between breaths

Aniya laughed as she patted Leonard on the back, "Don't worry Leonard, you'll get used to it and it doesn't take long to."

"Wow, it's hard to believe this whole city actually moves," Yulie said with excitement, "It feels like it's out of a fantasy."

"So…uh, how do we get to the Bunker Lode Caverns?" Leonard asked

"That is the hard part," Eldore started, "We need to see the man who runs this city: Count Drisdall."

"I'll take over here," Kara interrupted, "Greede maintains its independence, hence its full title 'The Free City of Greede', due to the revenue it generates. As you already know the city is on the back of the giant monster called a Demithor. During the mining season the Demithor lifts the entire city to the cavern entrance itself, but as it is the off season the city is 'down' like I mentioned earlier."

"And only the Count can authorize the movement of the Demithor to the caverns," Eldore added

"Well then, let's go see him," Leonard spoke

Aniya chuckled, "It's not that simple Leonard."

"Count Drisdall is like an emperor here," Kara added, "We can't just show up and ask him to move an entire city just for us."

"We need something that would allow us to have an audience with the count," Eldore added

"No more love letters, please…" Leonard said with a very heavy sigh

"Let us split up to cover more ground, there is bound to be something we can use," Eldore spoke

"Good idea, I'll go with Leonard," Yulie started

"I'll go with you," Aniya added

"So that leaves me with the old man," Kara spoke with a chuckle

"Old man is it? Hmmm…" Eldore said with a grunt

"First we need to get a train pass at the counter over there," Kara said as she pointed at the circular desk in the center of the area

"I have one already so we will go on ahead," Aniya spoke

"So you have been here before Aniya?" Eldore asked

"Yes, though this is as far as I have gone," Aniya started, "I haven't been beyond this city."

"I see, well then we will meet up in the Downtown Quarter."

"See you soon," Leonard said as he waved to Kara and Eldore

"Good thing you have a pass Aniya," Yulie started, "It definitely saved us some time."

"Not really, the passes are free," Aniya said as the trio entered the elevator to the train platform

"So then why-," Leonard started to ask

"I wanted to talk to you two," Aniya interrupted, "In private."

"Oh?" Yulie said surprised

"That Kara…"

"What about her?" Leonard asked

"Something doesn't seem…right with her…"

"Are you talking about when she attacked us or about her sister?" Leonard asked

"Both…" Aniya commented, "She doesn't seem to be…broken up about her sister's death."

"Maybe she's keeping it in," Yulie said trying to defend Kara

"True…" Aniya said as the elevator stopped and opened to the train platform, then added "There is also when I got hit on the head. When I woke up there were no fallen rocks in the area."

"Hmmm…"

"Maybe it's nothing," Aniya finished, "Let's hurry though the train looks like it is about to leave."

With that the trio ran through the turnstiles and to the train which was about to depart for the Merchant Quarter. On board the train itself both Yulie and Leonard were in awe about how the train was powered as well as how fast they had arrived at their destination.

"Wow, that was quite the ride," Yulie said excited, "And so smooth too."

Aniya chuckled, "This is the Merchant Quarter, and most of the shops are here. You can buy almost anything in Greede he-"

"ANIYA!" came a voice not far away

Completely surprised the trio their hands on their weapons and turned towards the direction of the voice. However, much to their surprise, it was only a middle-aged man who appeared to be a merchant. Calming down the trio relaxed and Aniya walked up to the gentleman.

"Do I…know you?" Aniya questioned the man

"You don't remember me?" the man asked, "Well I can't say I'm surprised, we only met once but I never forget a face, especially not a pretty one like yours."

"Um…" Aniya said blushing

"Allow me to explain," the man started, "You had saved me from some monsters on the trail two years ago. And afterward you got me here safe and sound; we were covered in cuts and bruises."

"Wait…now I remember," Aniya said in slight shock, "You were quite the ditz back then getting lost on the trail, as straightforward as it was."

"Hey, that hurts," the man then chuckled, "Of course you were quite the surprise, who knew how strong someone at your age could be?"

"Anyways how have you been?" Aniya asked dodging the question

"Oh, I've been great," the man paused and looked at Aniya's confused friends, "Who are your companion's Aniya?"

"Oh," Aniya paused, "This is Leonard and Yulie."

"Nice to meet you," the two said in unison

"Likewise," the man answered, "So what are you doing in Greede?"

"We are trying to see the Count," Aniya replied, "We need something to gain audience."

"Hmmm, I may have the thing," the man said as he went into his pouch and pulled out a small jar, "This might be able to help."

"What is it?" Aniya said as she took the jar

"An extremely rare item, Baccean Honey!" the man exclaimed

"Oooh, that is rare," Yulie commented with excitement

"You know of it?" Leonard asked

"Yeah, they say that it is used for many things, from potions to wines." Yulie explained

"I owed you from what happened so go ahead and take it," the man said as he turned toward the train station, "I need to get going, but maybe I'll see you again Aniya."

"Yeah, but next time don't surprise us…we are kind of on edge," Aniya said

"I'll keep that in mind," the man said with a chuckle as he waved while walking away

"Well, that was easy," Leonard commented

"Hmmm, I don't think this will be enough to see the Count, but let's go talk to Eldore and see what he thinks," Aniya added

"Before we do let's look around," Yulie said as she pointed towards the shops

"Okay, but let's make it fast," Leonard said with a sigh

The trio then went to the first shop to catch Yulie eye. Unfortunately for Yulie, the prices were far too great for them at the moment as all the prices were in the high thousands; however there was something that caught Aniya's eye: a shop she had never seen before. Upon entry, to Aniya's surprise, was a toad from Albana sitting behind a counter with many different kinds of items, from weapons to simple accessories.

"Whoa," Aniya exclaimed

"Oi!" the toad commented to the group, "Did you come to gawk or did ye come to bind?"

"Bind?" Aniya asked

"Oh, that's right," Leonard spoke, "We didn't show you Aniya."

Leonard then pulled out a card that seemed to be a license and showed it to the toad.

"Alright, everything seems to be in order," the toad spoke

"What is that?" Aniya asked completely confused

"Remember how we got permission to use the binding posts?" Yulie started to explain, "This is one of them."

"Oh, I see."

"Can you make anything like what they have here in Greede?" Yulie asked

"Not with your rank, no," the toad answered

"What? Rank?" Leonard asked confused

"Oi, weren't you told?" the toad asked, "The more you bind, the greater your rank becomes, and the more items you can make."

"From the looks of it we'd need a high rank to make most of the items here." Aniya commented

"Aye, so what you want to do?"

"Um, we'll have to come back…" Yulie said with a sad tone

"Well I'll be here, I'm not going anywhere."

"Well…that was something…" Aniya commented when the trio was outside the binding shop

"Yeah, I wish we knew about that beforehand," Leonard added

"Oh well, let's head for the Downtown Quarter," Yulie said, "Those two are probably waiting for us."

Aniya and Leonard nodded as the trio made their way back to the station, and luckily the train had arrived shortly before they had arrived. The trio boarded the train and made their way to the Downtown Quarter, but upon arrival the trio with the exception of Aniya was taken aback with all the smog in the area.

"Yeah, everyone does that when they first come here," Aniya started to explain, "You get used to it after a while."

"How does anyone get used to it?" Yulie asked

"Here use these," Aniya said as she pulled out some cloths, "Wrap them around so it covers your nose and mouth."

Doing as they were told Leonard and Yulie used the cloths as filters for the smog. Moving onward the trio made their way through the Quarter and searched for Eldore and Kara. Along the way they heard about a black market and about an extremely valuable item up for sale currently.

"_A black market, huh_?" Leonard thought to himself

Shortly afterward the trio ran into their remaining two companions and proceeded inside the nearby tavern.

"Did you two manage to find out anything?" Yulie asked

"No, only thing we heard was something about a black market and a very expensive item," Eldore explained, "But you cannot get in without a pass."

"We heard about it too on our way here," Leonard added

"What about you? Did you three find out anything?" Kara asked

"Well…" Aniya started as she pulled out the jar, "We managed to get this."

"What is it?"

"Baccean Honey," Aniya started, "What do you think?"

"Hmmm, this wouldn't be enough to let us see the Count," Eldore said with a sigh, "As rare as it is, it isn't something the Count would want."

"Ahem, excuse me…" a voice came from the counter

The group then turned to the gentleman whom the voice came from

"Did you say you have Baccean Honey?" the man exclaimed, "I absolutely must have it! I'll trade you my Black Market Pass for it, what do you say?"

"Uh…" Aniya looked at her fellow companions who nodded in agreement then handed the man the honey who in turn handed her the pass for the Black Market

"Thank you very much," Yulie said

"No, thank YOU!" the man said with excitement

"Where can we find this 'Black Market'?" Eldore asked

"Not from here are you?" the man asked, "No matter, just go out and make the first left. Just show the guard at the door and he'll let you in."

"I see thanks again," Aniya said gratefully

"Do you know what the expensive item is?" Kara asked

"Something called the 'Goddess of Lepanne,'" the man explained

"Hmmm, that definitely would grab the Count's attention," Eldore commented

"Is it that rare?" Yulie asked

"Unbelievably rare," Eldore added

"Well then, let's go!" Leonard exclaimed

* * *

**A/N**: Are you wondering: Did I create a female version of Sephiroth in this game? Hmmmm maybe... ::Dr. Evil Laugh with pinky::


	7. The Successor

Chapter 6: The Successor

The group made their way out of the tavern and followed the gentleman's directions to the entrance of the black market, once there they were confronted by the doorman who was standing just off to the side of a locked door.

"Yeah? What you want?" the doorman asked

"We want into the black market," Kara demanded

"Got a pass?"

"Right here," Leonard said as he held up the pass

"Heh, what dead body did you plunder that off of?" the doorman asked chuckling, and then added "I'm kidding, I don't care where you got it from, just let me open the door."

The doorman then proceeded to the door itself, muttering curses under his breath as the door seemed stuck at some points. When the man was finished he returned to the spot he was originally standing and motioned for the group to enter which they did. After the last person stepped inside the door was closed and locked behind them.

"What's going on?" Leonard asked confused

"Don't you worry, yer not locked in, gotta take precautions you know," the man said through the door, "Just knock when you are ready to leave."

"It makes sense, this IS a secret place after all," Eldore commented, "Let's go."

The group followed a winding path which ended at two large doors, and as they got closer the guard opened the doors and seemingly welcomed the group in. Beyond the door was a stage with a pedestal surrounded by numerous tables; however with the proverbial prize-of-the-day the tables were mostly full, as such the group had some trouble finding a table close to the stage, but eventually found one. As they sat down a uniquely dressed man walked onto the stage and presented the fabled Goddess of Lepanne.

"There it is," Leonard commented

"But something seems wrong," Kara added

"Unfortunately, this piece is not complete," the man on stage spoke, "The eyes as you can see; she is missing one of the firestones that give her that passionate and fiery look. As some of you may know you can only obtain firestones from the vicious Flander fire lizard, but if some brave man or woman were to slay the beast and return with a firestone we would be willing to part with the statue for less than her full value."

Many murmurs of disappointment erupted from the surrounding patrons, and one by one people started to leave the room, to the point that only Leonard and company were the only ones remaining.

The man on stage, upon realizing that all of the patrons had left, gave a large sigh, "Of course…Who would go on such a dangerous adventure?"

Leonard then smiled a large grin, raised his hand and shouted, "We'll do it!"

"What? You will? Really?" the man said in complete surprise

"Yeah," Leonard said as he and his companions walked up to the stage, "We may not look it but we are strong enough for any monster."

"I see," the man started, "In that case brave sir, if you would bring a firestone I would give the Goddess to you…free of charge, yes? I only wish to see her returned to her full glory."

"Sure, slaying this monster will be easy!"

"Hmph, that's what you think 'brave sir'…" Kara muttered under her breath

"So, uh, where do we find this 'fire lizard'?" Yulie asked

"That I do not know…" the man said with a sad tone, "But I am sure you will find it, being accomplished adventurers like yourselves."

"When we passed through the Flanders before we didn't encounter anything like the fire lizard," Eldore commented

"Let's ask around, shouldn't be too hard," Leonard spoke

"Always the optimist, aren't you Leonard?" Kara said sarcastically

With their new objective the group made their way back through the winding path and, just like the doorman told them earlier, knocked on the locked door and the doorman opened it. Upon exiting the doorman asked the group what was the outcome of the auction for the item, and was told about the fire lizard and was asked where to find it. Luckily, even though the man did not know where it was, he knew about a retired adventurer who hunted them before who now resided in the Merchant's Quarter. Now knowing where to go the group made their way to the Merchant's Quarter, and upon entry asked around for whereabouts of this adventurer and were directed to his home much to everyone's surprise.

"Wow…" Aniya remarked

"You said it," Yulie agreed

"This man was an adventurer?" Eldore asked

"This is the Merchant's Quarter, he probably did something after he was done adventuring," Leonard remarked

"True, but enough gawking," Kara said as she knocked on the front door

Shortly after Kara's knock a man in fancy clothes answered the door and asked, "Yes? Can I help you?"

"We are looking for a retired adventurer," Yulie started, "We were told he lived here?"

"Oh, yes I am he," the man answered, "Come in, come in!"

Doing as they were told the group entered the adventurer's home, which was rather extravagant.

"I am guessing you are looking for the fabled fire lizard," the man said to the group

"Yes, but how did you-?" Kara started to ask

"Oh many people come asking about that monster, let me tell you my story first," the man interrupted as he sat down, "A few of my adventuring friends got tired of the adventuring lifestyle and wanted to settle down finally. We had heard about the fire lizard and about the firestones that they covet, we hunted countless fire lizards to the point they became scarce, which is why they are now considered fabled, and I assume the firestone is what you are after as well."

The group nodded in agreement

"Well then," the man continued, "If you are after them there is one place you may be able to find some: An area with a red crystal."

Aniya immediately gasped however no one seemed to notice.

The man stood up and spoke, "Wait here for just a moment."

The gentleman had walked into a backroom and returned in short order with a small bag filled with a strange, odorous meat.

"When you find the red crystal open up this bag, and place the meat next to it," the man started, "Fire lizards love this stuff. When you kill it you will be rich, RICH I tell you!"

"Thanks," Leonard said as he took the bag

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"From there we made our way back to the Flanders," Aniya said, then chuckled, "On the ride back Leonard still hadn't gotten over his airsickness."

Everyone in the room started laughing, including Leonard as it didn't seem to faze him anymore. After the laughter had died down some Eldore had a serious look on his face.

"So…how did you know where the red crystal was Aniya?" Eldore spoke with a serious tone

Aniya was silent for a moment then spoke with a sigh, "My grandfather…fought his last fight there…"

All present were immediately struck with surprise, no one had expected that reply not even Eldore. Afterward Aniya closed her eyes and took a deep breath…

…

**~PAST~**

…

"So, where do we find this rare crystal?" Yulie asked as the group stepped off the gondola

"I…know where it is…" Aniya said meekly

"Really?"

"Yes…"

"Then that makes things easy for us," Kara spoke

Aniya was staring at the ground this entire time with a sad look on her face; however her companions did not seem to notice. Despite this Aniya had led her companions to a large hole that had a stone tablet on the other side.

"Down there…" Aniya said pointing down the hole

"It looks like quite the drop…" Leonard remarked

"It's not as far as you think," Aniya added, "Plus there are stepping points on the wall so we can climb down."

"Good, then let's get going," Eldore commanded

"Never thought I'd come here again…" Aniya said under her breath as she recalled the incident that happened at the red crystal…

…

~Aniya's Past – Two and a half years ago~

…

Aniya's grandfather was getting his weapon and other gear ready for hunting, and just as he was about to head out the door of the cabin when Aniya asked a question he expected eventually but didn't expect it now.

"Grandpa, can you tell me about my parents?" Aniya asked

Aniya's Grandfather gave a sigh then spoke, "I suppose it is about that time to…but we'll talk about it when I get back."

With that said the man left the cabin and off to go hunt, for a short time Aniya wondered what her parents were like, but put it out of her mind for the moment. While alone Aniya was tidying up their home when she heard the door crack open, expecting that her grandfather had returned but instead an unknown man with one eye, who was twice as tall as Aniya, appeared in the door.

"W-Who are you?" Aniya asked fearfully

"Hmph, he's not here…" the man spoke in a gruffly voice

"He? You mean my Grandpa?" Aniya asked, and then demanded, "What do you want with him?"

"That is none of your business girl…" the man said then paused, "But…you may prove useful…"

Upon finishing his sentence the man reached for Aniya who quickly evaded his grasp, grabbed her weapon, and readied it. Seeing this the man laughed at Aniya and drew his own weapon which was much larger than hers, this caused Aniya to be quite fearful as apart from training with her Grandfather she had not seen real combat.

"Let's see what you got girl," the man said mockingly

Aniya yelled as she lunged at the brute of a man who simply stepped to the side causing her to miss entirely; trying again Aniya attempted to strike her opponent but despite his size he was very skillful. Growing tired of the show she was putting on the man grabbed her weapon by the blade, ignoring that he was being cut by it, snatched and threw it away. At this point Aniya was completely petrified by her opponent.

"St-Stay Away!" Aniya yelled as she backed up slowly against a wall

The man ignored the young lady's command and inched closer to the point that he was almost nose to nose with her. The man chuckled and backed away slightly to the point that Aniya let down her guard slightly, but out of nowhere the man gave her a punch to the stomach putting her on her knees.

"Grand…pa…" Aniya said as she fell out of consciousness

The man hoisted the girl over his shoulder and carried her out of the door. Aniya was in and out of consciousness, and was completely unaware of how much time had passed; all she remembers is being carried a distance, down a hole, and into a wide open area. When she finally regained full awareness she realized she was near a red crystal, unlike any of the other crystals that were in the Flanders, she also realized the man she was fighting was not alone, there were at least twenty others with him.

"What do you want with me?" Aniya demanded

"Hmph, we don't want YOU little girl…" one of the men answered

"We want the man who was with you," another man said finishing the others sentence

"Quiet the both of you," the man she was fighting commanded, "He's coming…"

Everyone in the area, including Aniya, had turned their attention to the entrance of the wide open area they were in, and to a man that Aniya new quite well.

"Grandpa!" Aniya yelled

"Quiet you!" a man shouted at her before gagging her

"'Grandpa' is it now?" the leader spoke then laughed, "How far you have fallen…"

"What do you want?" Aniya's Grandfather asked in an angry tone

"Your life…"

"Hmmm…" Aniya's Grandfather paused then spoke, "Come and take it…"

The leader of the group motioned to some of his men to attack Aniya's Grandfather who did without question. However they were no match for him; one by one the fell to his blade, but he did not kill them.

"You've gone soft…" the leader commented

"Hardly…" Aniya's Grandfather then looked at Aniya herself, "Release her…"

"She means that much to you, huh?"

"Yes…"

The leader laughed, and then motioned to one of his men to take the girl away who then hoisted Aniya over his shoulder and carried her up a small slope and along a path. Upon reaching a small cliff with a fifteen foot drop the man set Aniya down and removed her gag and bindings.

"My Grandpa is going to get all of you…" Aniya declared

"Doubtful, little girl…" the man said then pushed her off the small cliff and onto the ground below

After getting up Aniya started hearing sounds of fighting coming from the direction she came from; the man who had carried her had returned to where they were, presumably to join the battle. Aniya had attempted many times to scale the wall, however each time she tried she slipped and fell back to the ground, eventually she gave up and waited for her Grandfather. It is unknown how much time had passed, but while waiting the sounds of combat that Aniya was hearing died down slowly but surely to the point that it stopped altogether.

"_What happened_?" Aniya thought to herself

Shortly afterward Aniya heard footsteps from above and she stepped away from the cliff wall to see who it was. The sun had set somewhat so Aniya was unable to actually see who it was on the cliff, but the voice that came from the figure reassured her.

"Aniya…" the figure said

"Grandpa!" Aniya yelled

Aniya was extremely happy to see her Grandfather alive and well, however much to her surprise what happened next horrified her. Aniya's Grandfather had seemingly passed out while standing up; shortly afterward he fell forwards and to the ground at Aniya's feet. Upon closer inspection Aniya noticed that he had many cuts and bruises on him and seemed to be clinging to life.

"Grandpa! Hold on!" Aniya yelled trying to keep him conscious

The yelling seemed to help as the man rose, albeit shakily, to his feet.

"Let's…go home…Aniya…" the man said as he stretched out his hand

"Yes let's," Aniya said in agreement as she took her Grandfather's hand

The two then proceeded back to their home, however the trek back was not uneventful, many times did Aniya's Grandfather tumble and trip and towards the end she almost had to drag him. Upon reaching the cabin she helped her Grandfather into one of the chairs and immediately started looking for medicine and healing agents, however she had not taken one step before the man grabbed her arm.

"What is it Grandpa?" Aniya asked worriedly

"Come here, Aniya…" the man said weakly

Aniya did as she was told and knelt next to her and put one of his hands in hers.

"It is about your parents…" the man started

"Grandpa we can wait for that," Aniya said in a sad tone

"No…it can't," the man continued, "I am not your real Grandfather, I actually did not know your parents…"

Aniya's eyes immediately grew wide and was speechless

"I raised you because of the guilt I had, but I still loved you as if you were my own daughter."

"B-But…" Aniya started but couldn't find the words

The man pointed his free hand at the sword against the wall, "When you are ready for the truth…"

The man's hand had dropped quickly, and Aniya knew that he didn't have long; as such she left his side in order to grab some medicine from some of the cabinets. During this time he was still talking to her, even though her attention was elsewhere.

"Aniya…I want you to get off this mountain, make friends, and create your own life," the man had closed his eyes and his voice started to weaken, "Never hate…never seek revenge…and know I love you…"

At this point the man had gone completely limp while Aniya was still looking in the cabinets but knew, even with her back turned, that something was wrong. Upon turning around with medicine in hand she saw that her Grandfather had passed on, tears had started to well up in her eyes as she dropped the medicine she was holding and rushed back to his side.

"Grandpa? Grandpa!?" Aniya started to yell as she shook the man and repeated her words over and over

Aniya cried into the man's body as she came to the realization that he had passed on and that she was now alone…

…

~Present Day~

…

"-ya! Aniya!" yelled a familiar voice

"Huh?" Aniya said as she snapped out of her reverie

"What's wrong with you?" Kara asked slightly angry

"Just thinking…" Aniya replied softly

"Well, get ready," Kara said as she pointed in the direction of the ledge and at the monster approaching them

"That's...a fire lizard?" Yulie asked concerned

The monster the group was after was almost six times the size of the other monsters in the area, and it was not alone. The lizard had at least fifteen of its smaller and different colored brethren, but undaunted the group grabbed their weapons and readied to take on the beast.

"I find it hard to believe that they hunted these things, almost to extinction," Eldore commented

"Think about it later, here it comes!" Leonard shouted

Immediately after Leonard's comment the fire lizard had jumped from the ledge to right in the middle of the group, splitting them whereas the other lizards that accompanied the fire lizard started to surround each group. Aniya was with Eldore on one side whereas Leonard, Kara, and Yulie were on the other.

"Leonard, we need your Knight!" Yulie commanded

"I can't focus…" Leonard said as he dodged attacks from the smaller lizards

Slowly little by little the group, although separated, started to thin out the smaller beasts until it was only them and the fire lizard. However this beast was no pushover, it attacked with its tail, as well as with its hind and front legs, and snapped at the group. The group's attacks, while they worked on the smaller lizards seemed partially ineffective against the larger one.

"Eldore look out!" Aniya yelled

The fire lizard had started charging towards Eldore who was in the middle of chanting a spell, upon realizing his plight Eldore ceased his chanting and prepared to dodge however the monster was too close to effectively do so.

"Eldore!" Leonard yelled

"Yaah!" Aniya screamed as she swung her weapon at the beast as she rushed to Eldore's side

The fire lizard had caught Aniya's weapon in its jaws as it saw her approach, and in quick order easily snapped her weapon and took a swipe at her which barely missed. Partially shocked at what happened Aniya looked at her broken weapon and threw it aside as it was no longer usable. Seeing no other option and having no other choice Aniya, reluctantly, took her Grandfather's weapon off her back and readied it.

"Grandpa…" Aniya said under her breath as she closed her eyes

"Aniya be careful!" Yulie yelled as she saw that the lizard was approaching her

When Aniya opened her eyes again the lizard was only a few paces from her, and seemed to be studying her. Aniya lowered her weapon and looked the beast dead in the eyes as she recalled one of her Grandfather's lessons:

"_Never show fear, for if you do you have already lost_…"

During this stare down the fire lizard had slowly started to back away as Aniya readied her weapon again. At this point everyone else had grouped back up and seemed to be watching the event unfold in front of them.

"What is she doing?" Yulie asked

"Hmmm, impressive…" Eldore commented

"Hold on!" Leonard yelled as he readied his Ark

"Wait Leonard…" Eldore said as he held up one of his arms blocking Leonard, "Let her deal with this…"

The fire lizard then lunged at Aniya who easily dodged its attack, and took a swing at the same time. Compared to everyone else's attacks Aniya's actually harmed it, for it seemed like she had found one of its soft spots. When the beast had lunged again at her Aniya had decided to end the battle, she had dodged its second lunge and took off its left front leg with a single swing, much to everyone's surprise. Looking into the beast's eyes again Aniya saw fear, but being a prideful beast it attempted one last lunge at Aniya.

"You fought well…rest now…" Aniya said under her breath as she readied her weapon again

When the fire lizard was only two paces away she dodged the attack and raised her weapon, then brought it down on the beast's neck, severing it and ending the fight. After the battle was done Aniya brought the hilt of the weapon up to her face and closed her eyes, seemingly praying, but during this time the blade of the weapon fell out of the hilt and onto the ground completely surprising her. Inspecting further Aniya noticed that the hilt had a small gap in it; she opened the hilt and saw that there was a letter addressed to her.

"_What the_-" Aniya thought to herself

"Great job!" Leonard shouted interrupting Aniya's thoughts, "Let's find that firestone…"

"Uh…any ideas?" Yulie asked

"It's eyes maybe?" Kara replied

"There…" Aniya spoke as she pointed to a circular spot on the fire lizard's body

"Oh…" Leonard said slightly surprised

While Leonard and the rest of the group were cutting out the stone from the fire lizard's corpse Aniya was picking up the blade from her Grandfather's sword and started looking at the letter, but was unable to get past the first sentence before everyone else was ready to go.

"Now that we have the stone, let's go get the Goddess," Leonard spoke, "It wasn't so hard was it?"

"Shut. Up. Leonard…" Yulie said angrily

"Sorry, sorry!" Leonard replied

With the deed done everyone returned to Greede and to the Downtown Quarter, whereupon Aniya split from the group again.

"I'll catch up with you guys later…" Aniya said as she held up the broken pieces of her Grandfather's sword, "I am going to get this repaired…"

"Okay, see in a bit!" Yulie said to Aniya as they passed a blacksmith's forge

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"Ironically that place is where that weapon was completed originally," Aniya said as she pointed at the Witchblade

"You…" Kara said with tears in her eyes, "You carried around such a sad memory…and we didn't even see."

"When you fought that lizard, what exactly happened?" Leonard asked

"My Grandfather always taught me to respect life," Aniya started, "The lizard had a lot of pride and honor, so when we fought we saw something in each other."

"When two warriors face each other in combat, they can sometimes speak with their minds, instead of their words," Eldore commented

"Exactly what my Grandfather said."

"So what did the letter say?" Cyrus asked bluntly

"Cyrus!" Yulie yelled

"It's alright," Aniya interrupted, "I was getting to that part anyways…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Um…hello?" Aniya said as she entered the seemingly empty blacksmiths

"Yes?" said a young girl who peeked out from behind some shelves

"Is the blacksmith here? I need something repaired."

"May I see?" the girl said holding out her hands

Aniya handed the young lady the broken pieces of her Grandfather's sword, albeit reluctantly as she was unaware of her identity.

"This sword has seen a lot; just look at all these dents."

"Yes…it belonged to my Grandfather who was a warrior."

"Elinor, who is it?" came another voice from behind another set of shelves

"We have a customer Grandpa," the young girl said

Upon saying this an elderly man revealed himself and was wiping his hands with a cloth. Upon seeing the two and the broken sword he walked over.

"Are you the blacksmith?" Aniya asked

Elinor, the young girl, laughed and spoke, "I'm the blacksmith!"

"What?"

"Blacksmith-in-training!" the elderly man said angrily

"Awww, come on Grandpa!" Elinor complained

"Don't 'come on Grandpa' me," the man said then pointed to the shelves where she was originally

Elinor handed the man the broken sword in a huff and marched back to the workplace behind the shelves.

The elderly man gave a sigh then spoke, "I don't know why she wants to be a blacksmith…I want her to do so much better."

"Um…" Aniya started

"Ah yes, let's see…" the man said as he looked at the sword, "Should have no problem repairing this, it shouldn't take long."

"Thank you."

"No problem."

Aniya then proceeded outside the blacksmiths and went to a quiet spot nearby. She then pulled out the note that was in the swords hilt and started to read it:

"Dear Aniya,  
I don't know how old you will be when you see this letter, but if you are then I have passed on from this world, and that you have used the sword I left behind. You must be wondering why the sword broke, I made it so that when you used it the blade would fall out and you would find this letter. I left this in case I would be unable to tell you about your parents, that your mother was a Farian, and your father was a normal human. A long time ago I ran with a group of bandits and I was known to be one of the strongest among them, but when I came across your parents part of me changed forever. We were raiding a caravan, just like we normally do, however when we reached your parents they were fighting tooth and nail to protect something, that 'something' was you. I personally did not kill your parents but I was one of the causes of their deaths. You must be wondering now that if you have Farian blood in you, why don't you have horns; the reason is that I cut the horns off of you when you were but a child in order to protect you. I know you must hate me now, but remember that I do in fact love you as if you were my own child, and that I would do anything to keep you safe, even if that meant sacrificing my own life. It pains me that while writing this I may not live long enough to see you as you are now, but know that I will be looking at you from the beyond.  
Signed, your loving 'Grandfather', Zalas."

After finishing the letter tears had started to stream down Aniya's cheeks and she fell to her knees in shock. Unbeknownst to her Elinor, the girl from the blacksmiths, was not far away and saw her fall down. Moving closer Elinor knelt next to her and tried to comfort her.

"Are you okay?" Elinor asked softly

Aniya did not answer, she was still crying while staring at the letter, her tears wetting it.

"Um…" Elinor continued as she stood up, "Your weapon is ready."

Elinor walked away slowly as Aniya was still on her knees, and unresponsive to anyone or anything.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

The room was completely silent once again. No one had moved an inch after Aniya had finished speaking, as everyone seemed to be in complete shock. Aniya was the first to break the eerie silence.

"It wasn't until much later I saw the entire truth…" Aniya said with a sigh

"You still called him 'Grandpa' though," Yulie finally said

"And you still used the sword," Eldore added

"He still raised me…" Aniya said slightly angry

"Sorry," Yulie said softly

"Moving on…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

Shortly after Elinor left Aniya had collected herself and risen, albeit shakily, to her feet and leaned against a nearby wall.

"Why?" Aniya said to herself, "Why didn't you tell me sooner?"

Aniya removed herself from the wall, put the note away and dried her tears as she made her way back to the blacksmiths, and upon entry was immediately pulled to the side by Elinor.

"Are you okay now?" Elinor asked softly

"Yes…" Aniya answered

"I don't know what happened but I hope you can resolve it somehow."

"Thanks," Aniya paused and then asked, "Why do you want to be a blacksmith Elinor?"

"There was a legendary sword that I was always fascinated with, and Gonzo, my Grandpa, knows how to make it."

"A legendary sword?"

"Yes, they say it was called the 'Witchblade', a sword so strong they say it could not be destroyed by any known means."

"It had to have been made before..."

"It was but it was lost long ago," Elinor paused, "But enough of that let me grab your sword."

Elinor went behind some shelves and brought back Aniya's weapon, it was cleaned, polished and looked much stronger than before. Aniya reached out her hand to take it but stopped short of grabbing the hilt.

"What's wrong?" Elinor asked

"I don't…" Aniya said as she lowered her arm

"I'm sure your Grandfather would want you to have it."

"_What should I do_?" Aniya thought to herself

"Um…"

"_Should I take it_?"

"I'll leave it here until you are ready…" Elinor said as she leaned the weapon against the wall and walked away

"_Should I take the weapon of the man who was the cause of my parent's deaths?_"

"Your Grandfather did love you, you know," came a voice from behind

Aniya turned around and found that Elinor's Grandfather Gonzo was behind her.

"What do you know?" Aniya asked sternly

"I knew him a long time ago," Gonzo started, "We ran with the same group, I believe the same one that killed him."

"Were you there?" Aniya said not taking her eyes off him

"…Yes I was."

Aniya was silent but still did not remove her gaze from Gonzo

"While he was one of the causes, he did try to defend your parents but failed," Gonzo paused and then continued, "The leader of the group was heartless, he killed everyone at that caravan…except you, when Zalas took you away, but not before taking the leader's eye."

"So…that man…" Aniya said coldly as she reached for the sword and strapped it to her waist

"Don't look for revenge Aniya," Gonzo warned, "That is the one path you do not want to follow."

"What should I do then?" Aniya asked, "That man took everything from me: My parents and…my Grandfather…"

"Live on," Gonzo said as he started to walk away, "Make a life for yourself."

Aniya was stunned at Gonzo's last words, and thought to herself about what do to. Shaking it off for the time being but still retaining her anger, Aniya went outside to find her friends walking towards her Goddess of Lepanne in hand.

"Hey guys," Aniya said then looked at the Goddess, "So you got it huh?"

"Yes…" Kara started, "Though we needed to use some 'persuasion'"

"That still wasn't necessary Kara," Yulie said protesting

"Let us go see the Count," Eldore said

The group made their way to the Central Station and to the Count's residence. There they were stopped by the guards who informed them that the count already had the Goddess of Lepanne. Luck was on their side however as the son of the Count, Caesar, revealed himself and allowed the group entry for having the "Real" Goddess of Lepanne.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"I am still amazed at how Caesar managed to replicate the Goddess, and get two Firestones," Yulie remarked

"Wasn't that hard actually," came a young man's voice from outside the door

The door opened and through it came the sixth and final member of the group, Caesar, much to everyone's surprise.

"What are you doing here Caesar?" Kara asked slightly angry

"Whoa, hey I was wondering why you didn't come back yet it is late after all," Caesar said in his defense

"Hmmm," Aniya started, "True, it is pretty late."

"It seems the lovely lady is awake too," Caesar said looking at Aniya

"Nice to see you too Caesar," Aniya paused and then commented, "Heh, the old group is back together again."

"Yeah," Leonard added, "It has been a couple of months since we have been like this."

"Indeed," Eldore added

"So how long have you been awake?" Caesar asked

"About four days now I think," Aniya answered

"No one told me you woke up, I would have come sooner."

"Both of us can't leave Greede at the same time Caesar," Kara interrupted and then added, "Speaking of which who is in charge of Greede since both of us are gone?"

"My most trusted retainer of course."

"Hmmm…"

"Sorry to interrupt," Cyrus said, "But since it is getting late and we all have things to do tomorrow, shall we conclude this until later?"

"Yes," Eldore agreed, "Sorry to say Aniya but we won't be able to come tomorrow, urgent business."

"I understand," Aniya reassured him, "After all the Magi are still about."

"Aww and I only just saw you again," Caesar said sorrowfully, though slightly sarcastically

"Funny Caesar," Yulie said with a mild glare

"We'll see you soon Aniya," Leonard said getting up with everyone else in the room shortly following him

Yulie had given Aniya a small hug before leaving her side, whereas Kara got up and gave Aniya a small nod and proceeded with Caesar outside of the room. Cyrus and Eldore were the last to leave, and had left Aniya's weapon by her bedside.

"_Heh, they didn't take it with them_," Aniya thought to herself, "_I couldn't use it anyway_."

Aniya had made begun to make herself comfortable and blew out the candle that was burning by her bedside, however the runes on the sword slightly illuminated the room in a purplish color. The illumination had kept her up for several moments but eventually she was able to go to sleep like normal.

* * *

**A/N**: Those that played the game know that the fire lizard was actually the same size as the other lizards; I just changed it for shock value in the story. As an added note the story of Aniya's Grandfather does not end here.


	8. Road to Recovery

Chapter 7: Road to Recovery

The next morning Aniya woke up at her usual time and the maid, whom was given the day off the previous day, tended to her once again. The day was starting off like it normally did: the maid brought breakfast and Aniya ate it like usual, however this time Aniya had a particular request…

"Um, miss?" Aniya asked the maid near her that was taking away the tray that held her breakfast before

"Yes milady?" the maid replied

"I need a favor."

"Anything you need milady."

"Please stop calling me 'milady'; I'm not exactly royalty," Aniya paused for a moment, "Just call me Aniya."

"Um…will 'Miss Aniya' do?"

"Hmmm, I suppose…"

"Anything else mila-… Miss Aniya?"

"Yes actually…" Aniya paused again, but this time a little bit longer than before, "I need something from outside…"

"And that is?" the maid asked slowly

"…A branch from a tree, it doesn't need to be big."

"A...branch?" the maid asked while looking completely puzzled

"I see you're confused," Aniya chuckled a little, and then spoke seriously "I will explain in a little bit."

"Um…as you wish Miss Aniya," the maid said as she bowed and took her leave tray in hand

After the maid closed the door behind her Aniya had taken a deep breath as if asking her request was a giant load off her shoulders. A short time afterward Aniya listened for anyone coming, and when the coast was clear she grabbed her right wrist with her left hand and made a fist with her right and closed her eyes.

"Okay…" Aniya said under her breath, and after she did her breathing seemingly became more strained

Aniya slowly opened her right hand and as she did revealed a very small pebble sized ball of energy, yellow in color, and then opened her eyes again. She then tossed the ball into the air just above her and the energy ball remained in place, and then she went back to what she did just prior and created another, only this time the energy ball was blue in color. Shortly after completing the second ball the maid walked in, branch In hand, and witnessed what Aniya was doing.

"Miss Aniya! W-what's this?" the maid said in shock

"These…are…Elemental Orbs…" Aniya said between breaths after she noticed the maid

"Um…"

After catching her breath Aniya continued, "Don't worry they aren't dangerous…in the meantime…"

"Oh, yes," the maid said looking down at the branch, which was two feet in length and added "Will this do?"

"It's fine, can you bring it over here?" Aniya said as she tossed the second ball into the air, aligning itself with the brown one, and released her right hand

The maid walked over to Aniya's side, albeit cautiously, and handed Aniya the branch while looking at the two floating orbs. After taking the branch in one hand Aniya slowly removed the covers with the other, and moved her legs so that they were hanging off the edge of the bed. Taking a small number of steps backwards the maid spoke cautiously.

"Um…Miss Aniya?" the maid asked worriedly

"Here we go…" Aniya said sharply

Aniya after finishing her sentence snapped the branch in two, and then placed the separate pieces on her legs, after which started a small incantation. The maid, still watching, grew even more surprised at what happened next: the two orbs that were idle above Aniya's head started to glow brighter and brighter, almost to the point of blinding the woman. After a short time the orbs light faded and all returned to normal, however the two pieces of the branch were on Aniya's legs were replaced by "vines", which also appeared to be extremely tight, the same color as the branch, and extended from her thighs to her feet. Regaining herself the maid opened her mouth to speak.

"Miss Aniya?" the maid started, "What did you do?"

However Aniya was unresponsive to her words and upon closer inspection showed that she was asleep, and the orbs faded until they were no more. Seeing this the maid walked over and gently picked up Aniya's legs, put her back on the bed, and put the covers over her. Afterward the maid noticed that the Ark on the nightstand was glowing slightly and cautiously walked over to it. Upon getting close enough the maid reached her hand out to touch the Ark, however when only an inch away the maid felt all the energy in her body drain and subsequently passed out, but was close enough to the nearby chair that she fell into it braking her fall.

…

~Several Hours Later~

…

The maid woke up in a drowsy state and noticed that Aniya had already woken up and was simply sitting idle, watching her. Regaining herself the maid got up from the chair and corrected her uniform, then turned to face Aniya, however Aniya was the first to speak.

"I'm sorry about that," Aniya started to say, "I should have warned you."

"Miss Aniya, what happened?" the maid asked cautiously

"I cast a small spell as you saw," Aniya started as she pointed at her legs which were still covered, and then added, "It will help me walk again, and will 'fall off' when I can."

"Miss Aniya, why are you in a hurry?" the maid asked curiously

"Because I have a bad feeling…"

"About what?"

"Hmmm, it's probably nothing."

"I see…" the maid started but then noticed outside the window that the sun was nearing the horizon, then said slightly shocked, "Oh no!"

"What is it?"

"I have to get your dinner ready!" the maid said as she quickly bowed and left the room

Shortly after the maid left Aniya removed the covers once more and swung her legs so they were hanging over the edge once more. Taking a deep breath she put her feet onto the solid floor, and as she did the vines on her legs seemed to tighten, to the point that she cringed slightly.

"I forgot how painful these can be…" Aniya said under her breath

Brushing off the pain she attempted to stand up on both feet but fell onto the floor again, as she did some days prior. Grabbing onto the bed, and using it as a brace, Aniya tried multiple times to get onto her feet however each time she tried she fell down the same way, after a time she stopped trying and rested as each time she tried it drained her more and more of energy. After a short time Aniya's rest was broken by the sound a tray dropping, not to her surprise as she turned her head Aniya saw the maid looked at her in total shock.

"Welcome back." Aniya said with a smile

However the maid was not amused as was shown on her face she rushed over to Aniya's side and helped her up and sat her bed facing her.

"Miss Aniya why must you scare me so?" the maid said angrily while she had her hands on her hips

"I can't help it..." Aniya started, "I can't just lay here forever, there is no telling when my legs will heal to the point I can walk again…"

"But the queen said-"

"I know, I know, I can take as long as needed…" Aniya said interrupting her, "But another reason why I am trying to leave is that I know that I am not wanted here in the palace…"

"W-what are you talking about?" the maid said shocked

As the maid finished talking the Ark started glowing again and she took a step back. Aniya, however, was completely unfazed by it and continued to look upon the frightened maid.

"When you tried to touch that," Aniya said as she pointed at the Ark, "I saw some of your memories…"

The maid did not answer, she only stood there dumbstruck

"It and I are connected you know…" Aniya continued, "When I used magic earlier, I 'activated' it at the same time…"

The maid still did not answer

"Every time you leave this room you talk to your fellow maids and butlers," Aniya said growing in seriousness, "And each time you talk about how I don't belong here…"

"I, um…" the maid tried to say

"You are right you know I don't belong here…"

"It is true, we did say things like that…" the maid said regaining herself, and then added "But that is because we don't know you…"

"What does knowing me have to do with it?"

"W-well…"

Aniya said nothing as she waited for the maid to speak

"The queen treats you like a VIP but we don't know why."

"I will explain that…" a soft voice came from beyond the door

As the door opened both Aniya and the maid turned their heads and witnessed whose voice it was that had just spoke.

"Cisna…" Aniya said softly seemingly surprised

As Cisna walked in it was apparent that she was angry as she had a very serious look on her face, and when she was within five feet the maid gave a deep bow and held it as if she was afraid of the queen's reaction.

"Rise…" Cisna said as she extended her hand

The maid did not speak as she stood upright again but avoided the queen's gaze

Aniya also remained quiet as she waited what Cisna would say

"This woman saved my life and this country…no, the entire world…" Cisna said seriously

"My queen I-" the maid started to say

"You can tell that to everyone else..." Cisna said interrupting her, "Now you may leave…"

"Yes, my queen," the maid said meekly as she bowed again and picked up the dropped tray and left the room closing the door behind her

"Now for you…" Cisna said as she turned to Aniya who was still sitting on the beds edge

"Yes?" Aniya answered

"You need to rest…" Cisna said slightly angry

"I can't stay here Cisna…"

"Why not?"

"I can't explain it now…" Aniya started, "But something feels…wrong…"

"Wrong?"

"Yes…" Aniya continued, "If I don't leave here people may be in danger…"

"_Mureas_…" the Ark spoke slowly

Cisna and Aniya turned their heads towards the ark, which was still glowing, and shortly afterward the glow faded until it was no more. Afterward they turned to each other and locked gazes both equal in the amount of seriousness.

"What…was that?" Cisna asked

"The spirit…" Aniya answered, and then added "I'm sure Framboise told you already."

"Yes…but the others were not known to…do that…"

"Its power exceeds the others by far."

"So I see…"

"But I know you did not come to visit to talk about stuff like that…" Aniya said trying to change the subject

"Oh yes! Although this isn't the way I planned it…" Cisna said returning to the way Aniya knew here before, "How have you been?"

"I don't like places like this…too upscale…"

"Well, you are an adventurer," Cisna said with a chuckle

"True," Aniya said chuckling as well

"I can't stay long…duty calls…" Cisna said with a sad face as she finished chuckling

"Ah yes, the duties of a queen…"

"Yes…but before I leave Aniya…" Cisna said as she turned to leave, "Promise me that you will rest."

"I can't keep that promise, Your Majesty…" Aniya replied seriously

"Well…then promise me you won't do anything foolish…"

"Hmmm, that I may be able to keep."

"Okay!" Cisna said with a smile

Aniya returned the smile and Cisna made her way out of the room, giving one final wave before she closed the door. Shortly afterward the maid, who had left just before, came in with Aniya's dinner, however this time on her face she showed newfound respect for Aniya as the information she learned, and subsequently passed on to her peers, was completely unexpected. As Aniya was eating she explained to the maid a little more in-depth about what happened and how she saved the world and the maid grew more and more interested. After Aniya finished eating the maid left for the evening, and Aniya went to sleep earlier than normal.

…

~The Next Day~

…

The morning went somewhat without incident; the maid brought Aniya her breakfast as usual, but when finished she tried to walk once again, however she did not attempt it alone, the maid assisted her by holding her up so that she did not fall. With her help Aniya was able to put one foot in front of the other, albeit in baby steps, and almost made it from one end of the room to the other before her legs gave out and subsequently made her fall taking the maid with her.

"Well…almost made it…" Aniya said with a small chuckle

"Yes, almost," the maid said in agreement

"Now we just have to make it back."

"I'm here to help you Miss Aniya."

"Thanks."

Helping Aniya up the maid got her to the bed once again, however they did not stop. For several hours the two trekked back and forth from one end of the room to the other, each time Aniya falling but also getting closer and closer to the wall before she does, and after numerous attempts they finally did so. After the last attempt Aniya, on the bed once more, finally rested seemingly exhausted after trying to walk.

"How do you feel?" the maid asked as she sat next to Aniya

"I feel my legs getting stronger," Aniya said as she rubbed her leg

"That's good to hear."

"I would say in a week or so I can walk like normal again."

"A week? That's fast."

"It will take a lot of falls before then though…" Aniya said chuckling again

As Aniya finished talking the room's door opened and through it appeared Framboise who was her cheery happy-go-lucky self.

"Hey Aniya!" Framboise said cheerfully

"Framboise!"

"Greetings Lady Framboise," the maid said as she stood up and bowed to Framboise

"What are you up to?" Framboise asked

"Trying to walk…" Aniya replied

"Trying to?"

"Yes."

"I will take my leave Miss Aniya, Lady Framboise," the maid said as she bowed and grabbed the tray that held Aniya's food and left the room leaving Framboise and Aniya alone.

"So you can't walk yet, huh?"

"No not yet, but these are helping." Aniya said as she pointed at her legs and the vines surrounding them

"Oooh I've heard of magic like that!" Framboise said, and then added "Combination magic, using multiple elements, very powerful but can be dangerous."

"It depends on what elements are used that can make it dangerous…" Aniya added

"True."

"I know you came here for a reason Framboise, so what is it?"

"Straight to business huh?" Framboise said with a sigh, and then added "Alright then…"

Aniya moved over slightly and motioned for Framboise to sit next to her, which she did

"I asked several guinea-, um I mean several soldiers that I gave Arks to but none of them had the same experience as you did, or anywhere close." Framboise started

"I suppose that is a good thing…"

"But what I don't understand is what the difference is?"

"What do you mean?"

"So what if they don't contract with a spirit? They can control the Knights all the same."

"And as I said before they won't be as powerful."

"How much more powerful can a Knight be?"

"If one of them were to go up against the other 'True' Knights they would be crushed quickly without one."

"*gulp*I see…"

"But the other Knights are gone…"

"Absorbed by this 'Madoras'?"

"Yes, and he is gone as well…although…"

"'Although'?"

"I have been having a feeling that something isn't right…as if it is not over yet…"

"If you are referring to the Magi, we are currently defeating the remnants little by little; they won't be a problem for much longer."

"Maybe…"

"Well I can't stay too long, got to get back to my research," Framboise said as she stood up and turned to face Aniya, and then added "We are researching different parts for the Knights."

"Don't dig too far Framboise…"

"Where is the fun in that?"

"Some things are better off left untouched that's all…"

"Hmmm, how about if we discover anything dangerous we'll stop, how's that?"

"Good enough I suppose."

A moment later Aniya and Framboise both turned their heads in the direction of the door which was opening, and through it came both Caesar and Kara, with the latter having a mean look on her face. Seeing the two Framboise said her farewells to Aniya as she made for the door, and as Framboise passed the couple she gave them both a nod, and in turn they gave a nod back seemingly agreeing on something. Walking closer to Aniya the couple noticed what was around her legs, and of course Caesar was the first to speak.

"Nice 'legwear' Aniya!" Caesar said as he chuckled

Without much warning Kara elbowed Caesar in the stomach causing him to grunt a little, but still chuckled almost as if he was expecting it.

"So how have you been?" Caesar said continuing

"I've been alright," Aniya said chuckling

"That's good."

"Eldore told me you two got married, how has that been going?"

"I make most of the decisions." Kara added

"I help…sometimes…" Caesar spoke sheepishly

"Heh…never knew you to be one for politics Kara." Aniya replied

"Neither did I…" Kara said, then looked at Caesar and added, "But someone has to watch over this one…"

"Yeah…no telling what he would do…"

"Hey!" Caesar said interrupting the two, "I DID rule Greede for one year alone you know!"

"True…" Aniya said in agreement

"That you did…" Kara said also agreeing

Then the trio burst out laughing so loud that someone from outside came in to see what the commotion was, and seeing nothing wrong went on their own way. Calming down a little the trio returned to their serious state.

"Anyways…" Aniya started to say then paused

"Everyone else will be coming soon." Caesar said almost reading her mind

"You two were just the first to arrive?"

"Yep, we had a talk with the queen before coming here…"

"She told us she visited you last night and about what happened…" Kara added

"Hmmm, I see…" Aniya said slowly

"It's almost like Dragon Sight…" Caesar continued

"The question is…why do you have that ability?" Kara asked

"Only the Dragon Knight, and by extension myself, had it before."

Aniya did not answer immediately, she glanced at the Ark and then back to the couple, and then opened her mouth to speak only to be interrupted by the door being opened and through it came the rest of the company, Cyrus included.

"Hey Aniya!" yelled Yulie as she came running

"Hey back Yulie!" Aniya replied but then looked at Caesar and Kara who still awaited an answer

"Well…I'm sure it can wait…" Caesar spoke as he took a seat with Kara following him

"So you can use magic again Aniya?" Eldore asked

"A little…" Aniya replied slowly, and then added "Only small spells though…"

Eldore raised an eyebrow as he replied, "Small huh?"

"Believe it or not this was the cause of small spell," Aniya said pointing at her legs

"Hmmm…"

"But anyways…everyone is back again…"

"Indeed," Eldore said agreeing, and then added, "Shall we pick up where we left off?"

"Yes…" Aniya paused for a moment, "Where were we?"

"We just met Caesar for the first time at the manor of Greede," Leonard spoke

"Thank you Leonard."

"No problem."

"Caesar had just broken the news of the fake statue to his father, and was subsequently 'disowned' by him and we received a letter to give to Amir so that we can move the Demithor…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

Upon leaving the count's room the group found Caesar waiting for them, and subsequently followed him back to his own room whereupon Caesar asked the group if he could tag along. Everyone, with the exception of Kara, welcomed Caesar's company and soon they were in the downtown quarter once again.

"So where will we find this Amir?" Yulie asked

"At the bar most likely, but if I know him he's 'under' it…" Caesar replied

"So…he's a drunk?" Kara asked coldly

"Not really," Caesar then chuckled, "But he does like to run up a tab…"

"Oh brother…"

A short walk later the group found the bar that Amir was enjoying himself at. Upon handing him the letter from Count Drisdall he seemed enthused to move the Demithor, however warned the group in order to do so they have to brave the "belly of the beast" so to speak and that is hasn't been cleared as they are not in the mining season. Caesar then reassured Amir, and the rest of the group at the same time, that it will all work out and that there is nothing to fear.

"Um, one last thing before we go ladies and gentlemen…" Caesar said somewhat meekly

"Hmmm? What is it?" Eldore asked

"Is that the gear you have on you?"

"Yes, what of it?"

"The underbelly is a very dangerous place; you all need better gear before we go."

"We don't really have the time to make money we need to hurry…" Aniya started to speak

"Let me worry about that!" Caesar replied, and then added "Follow me."

With those words the rest of the group followed Caesar to the nearby shop whereupon he told the rest to gear up with whatever they wanted.

"Um, didn't the count 'disown' you? So how can-"

"ANIYA!" Yulie yelled, "I'm sorry Caesar…"

"Don't worry about it, she is right though…" Caesar said calming her, and then pulled out a rather large sack of money "I kept my own supply funds just in case…"

"_Just in case…?_" Kara thought to herself

Afterward the group got new armor and weaponry, courtesy of Caesar, however in doing so drained him of the supply of funds he had.

"Hey…" Caesar spoke to Aniya

"Yes?" Aniya replied

"Everyone got new weapons…why didn't you?" Caesar said pointing at her sword

"This…is a treasure…" Aniya paused, "I'll never part with it…"

"I see…"

"By the way Caesar, I'm sorry for what I said, it was wrong of me…"

"Don't worry about it. It's not the first time the old man said that…"

"Huh?"

"So are we all ready to go?" Caesar asked the group seemingly ignoring Aniya's curiosity

The entire group nodded in agreement as everyone finished putting on their new gear.

"Let's go then!"

…

~**PRESENT**~

…

"'Not the first time' Caesar?" Cyrus asked

"Yeah, I've done a lot of things that made the old man angry." Caesar replied

"So he 'disowned' you multiple times, but he always took you back."

"Yep…I'm kinda surprised though I didn't know this was going to be about me…"

"It's not; we are just learning things from Aniya's point of view." Eldore commented

"Oh, so it's kind of a consequence?"

"Something like that…" Leonard replied shyly looking at Yulie who didn't seem to notice him looking at her

"If you all want I can skip things like that…" Aniya replied

"No, it's better this way," Caesar replied, "It is best if some things are brought into the light."

Aniya looked around the room and everyone else agreed with Caesar's words

"That is similar to what you said before Aniya." Yulie commented

"True…okay then…" Aniya replied continuing

…

~**PAST**~

…

After leaving the shop the group, after a short walk, found themselves at the entrance to the underbelly of the Demithor. After opening the door the entire group except for Amir, Caesar, and surprisingly Aniya, covered their mouths as the stench of the area was overwhelming.

"Yeah, everyone is like that the first time coming here." Caesar said with a laugh

"You'll all get used to it in no time." Amir spoke trying to reassure everyone

"This place will take us outside right next to the Demithor's head," Caesar paused, "but let's be careful, there are many dangerous monsters here, especially around this time of year…"

"I doubt its anything that we haven't seen before," Leonard commented

"Don't be so sure of that Leonard…" Caesar replied seriously

"Your overconfidence will be your downfall Leonard…" Kara added darkly

"That sounds kind of cruel Kara," Aniya commented

"Enough let's go." Eldore commanded

With Eldore's words the group entered the underbelly of Greede, and only a short ways in they realized what Caesar meant by dangerous monsters, and the reason he said to be cautious. The group found themselves surrounded by numerous spiders, similar to the ones they fought in the Nordia Tunnels; however these were a different color and seemed to be much faster.

"Heh, and these guys aren't the biggest problem…" Caesar commented as he slew several of the spiders

"Take back what you said now Leonard?" Yulie added

"C'mon this isn't so bad…" Leonard replied cockily

"Leonard I'm going to kill you!" Kara said angrily

"Less talking, more fighting!" Eldore yelled in reply

A short time later after what seemed like dozens of spiders everyone sheathed their weapons and took a small breather, however Aniya did not, and she still had her weapon readied.

"It's not over…" Aniya finally said

"What?" Yulie asked in reply

Out from the shadows was something that looked far worse than the spiders: a crystal-like monster, however the creature did not notice the group, or it did not seem to care. Walking up to her side Caesar put his hand on Aniya's shoulder which then caused her to finally lower her weapon.

"_That_ is an elemental monster." Caesar spoke

"A what?" Aniya replied

"They cast magic of the natural type." Eldore added

"You know your stuff old man," Caesar replied with a chuckle, and then added "While they are dangerous, they are normally oblivious to anything around them."

"In other words don't bother them, they won't bother you?"

Yulie asked in reply

"Exactly."

"On a side note," Kara started, "Aniya do you even know how to wield that weapon properly?"

"What are you implying Kara?" Aniya replied sternly

"During our fight you barely were only able to kill two of those spiders."

"I haven't mastered its use yet…"

"What about when you fought that Fire Lizard?"

Aniya remained silent

"You did what we couldn't but now it seems you are weaker now…"

Aniya still remained silent but her grip on her weapon, while lowered, tightened.

"Okay, okay…" Caesar said while stepping between them, and then added "Maybe she's not having a good day."

Kara scoffed and then turned around and started to walk off deeper into the maze along with the rest of the group Aniya loosened her grip on her weapon and after a short time strapped it back to her waist and followed everyone.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"I guess you can say that was the start of my resentment toward you Kara…" Aniya said coldly

"I…see…" Kara replied slowly

"It's funny though," Caesar added, "Back then when you fought with that weapon, we would have never guessed you will be so proficient with it later."

"You can thank Dels for that." Aniya replied

"So when you fought us, it was due to Dels tutelage?"

The room immediately fell silent at Caesar's words; however the silence did not last long as Cyrus spoke up quickly.

"You all what!?" Cyrus shouted

"Yes…" Aniya said as she put her head down, "At Red Horn…"

"That is the main reason for this story Cyrus…" Eldore spoke up

"I don't believe it…" Cyrus said in shock, and then added "That's treason…"

"She had her reasons," Kara added and then paused, "Though you weren't supposed to find out Cyrus, not yet at least."

"Sorry…it slipped…" Caesar said meekly

"Oh well…" Aniya finally said looking up at Cyrus, "What will you do now Cyrus?"

Cyrus was silent for a few moments and finally spoke, "I will wait and listen to the circumstances behind this, and then I'll decide."

"Alright…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

Walking further into the underbelly, and slaying numerous monsters along the way, the group found themselves in a fork like room with a large lever in the middle.

"This is the first obstacle we have to overcome ladies and gentlemen!" Amir spoke

"The path to the Demithor's head is locked behind a series of doors that can only be opened by certain levers," Caesar added, "And here is the first of such…kinda."

"Kinda?" Yulie asked

"This lever in front of us controls two doors in this room, but the lever we want is to the left down a long corridor, the right door leads further in."

"I'll go…" Aniya spoke

"Okay," Caesar said as he nodded in Aniya's direction and walked toward the lever, then called over to Leonard "Help me out with this Leonard; this thing can be a pain."

"Gotcha!" Leonard replied as he went to the opposite side Caesar in a pulling position

"On three!" Caesar shouted Leonard nodded as he readied himself

"Heh…THREE!" Caesar yelled as he pushed the lever as hard as he could which also caused Leonard to pull as hard as he could Despite the surprising movement, the two managed to get the lever to move, albeit slowly, and the door on the left swung open.

"I'll be back…" Aniya said as she drew her weapon and ran through the door

After a short time of running Aniya's run started to slow, turning into a jog and finally into a walk as she noticed there were no monsters in the area. She started to think about what Kara said: about how her proficiency in the longsword is very low. Because of this Aniya walked started to practice swinging with it, although she knew she would not get much better in such a short time. A short time later Aniya came upon a much smaller version of the lever in the forked room, and despite it being similar it was somewhat easier to move as opposed to the larger one.

"Okay."

Making her way back Aniya found the rest of the group waiting on her, and as soon as she mentioned that she moved the lever Leonard and Caesar both readied themselves to move the lever again. As the lever moved the left door slammed shut, and the door to the right swung open.

"Alright let's get goin'!" Caesar shouted

"Caesar…" Aniya spoke to get his attention which also caused the rest of the group to take notice

"Yeah? What's up?"

"Is the 'guardian' active?"

"Uh…" Caesar started with a nervous chuckle, "I forgot about him…"

"Guardian?" Eldore asked seriously

"A golem, we keep it here to prevent intruders from sneaking in and doing any damage."

"How did you know about it Aniya?"

"I was here last year, hired to help clean up the underbelly, and I was told about it…" Aniya replied

"Last year…" Caesar said somewhat to himself, then aloud "I think I remember...didn't you have your hair up then?"

"Yes, I did…but let's get moving…" Aniya said as she started to walk off

"They called you the 'Demoness.'"

This caused Aniya to stop in her tracks, but seconds later continued to walk toward the door with the rest of the group following shortly. After another short walk they all came to a wide open room with a large, seemingly dormant, structure in the middle.

"Um…is that?" Yulie asked worriedly

"Yes…it's the guardian…" Caesar said with a sigh

After Caesar's words parts of the structure lit up, and it stood to its full height, almost the same as a Knight.

"In…tru..ders…" the golem spoke as it started to move toward the group

* * *

**A/N:** Real life can be a pain sometimes. I apologize for the long wait. Here onward is where the story will start to get a little more interesting, initially I was planning on leaving the secret of Red Horn for later but it seemed to bit better here. Please review if you have enjoyed (or not) the story so far...


	9. Into the Depths

Chapter 8: Into the Depths

"Remove…all…intruders…" the golem spoke as it continued its encroachment toward the group

"That's the guardian?" Yulie asked

"Yep!" Caesar replied with a small grin

"What's so funny?" Kara asked seriously

"Oh, you'll see," Caesar said still grinning

As the golem got closer the group everyone, save for Caesar, Amir, and Aniya, readied their weapons. When the golem was roughly forty paces away Caesar took several steps forward and took in a deep breath.

"Golem!" Caesar shouted

After Caesar shouted the golem stopped moving as it seemed to respond to him.

"Stand down!" Caesar shouted again

"Command…recognized…" the golem replied

After the golem's reply it turned around and moved back to its starting position and returned to its dormant state, afterward everyone that had their weapons drawn put them back cautiously.

"Count Drisdall and a limited number of people have control over the golem" Amir spoke

"And I'm guessing Caesar is one of them…" Kara commented

"That's right!" Caesar said with a smirk, and then added "So there was nothing to fear."

"Hmph…"

"Shall we move on?"

"Yes, from here we head north where we have to flip the reservoir levers" Amir added

Following Amir's instructions the group then proceeded further into the underbelly killing any hostile monster in their way, until they came to yet another lever behind a door.

"It's fastest if we split up here" Caesar spoke

"Why?" Eldore asked

"There are two levers here we have to flip and this lever alone controls the pathways to them."

"Um, young master who shall I go with?" Amir asked

"You stick with me little buddy."

"Yes, young master!"

"So let's see…" Caesar paused for a moment, "I'll take the old man and Kara; Leonard, Yulie, and the demoness can go together."

"Old man huh?" Eldore said under his breath

"Don't call me 'demoness'…" Aniya said sternly

"Okay it's settled then!" Caesar announced ignoring Aniya

After speaking Caesar moved to the lever and moved it to the left and after a few seconds a loud sound was heard. Caesar and Amir, along with Eldore and Kara, started to leave the room the lever was in, but just before leaving Caesar spoke.

"Wait about two minutes after we leave before you flip the lever to the right so that we have enough time to go through the path." Caesar added, "Your path is to the northeast of here, take care."

"Okay, you four be careful!" Yulie said as the other group left

Waiting the allotted time Caesar requested the remaining three moved to the lever and proceeded to move it. After moving the lever to the middle the three heard a loud sound again and after moving it further to the right it another sound was heard.

"Let's get going!" Leonard commanded

The two ladies nodded in agreement and followed Leonard out the door. Following Caesars instructions the three found themselves and room with a hole in the floor leading down to a lower level.

"That's a long way down…" Yulie commented as she looked down the hole

"Are we supposed to go down this?" Leonard asked aloud but to himself

"Yes" Aniya said answering his question

"How?"

Aniya did not speak instead she walked over to the hole and stomped her heel near it resulting in a small ladder that almost reached to the floor below.

"See?"

"Oh that's right," Yulie added, "You did say you were here last year cleaning out this place."

"Let's go…"

After speaking Aniya followed by Yulie and finally Leonard descended the ladder to the lower level, and after reaching the floor Aniya gave the ladder a small tug and it retracted to its resting place under the hole. Moving onward the three killed all monsters in their way and came upon an iron door with three levers off to the side.

"Um, now how do we get through this door?" Yulie asked Aniya

"Sorry, that is knowledge I don't know…"

"I'm guessing you weren't allowed to know?" Leonard asked

"Something like that…" Aniya paused, and then added, "What I DO know is that one of the levers is behind this door."

"Maybe the levers over here control the door?"

"Possibly…"

"Well, I guess we can randomly pull them and see what happens?" Yulie suggested

The other two agreed and all three proceeded to their own lever to pull. Yulie attempted first, then Leonard, and finally Aniya but the door did not open.

"Is there a certain order to them?"

"Hmmm, let's see…" Leonard said aloud

After his words Leonard suggested they try different combinations and after many different combos the door finally swung open. Nodding to each other the three went through the opened door and entered a large room with a least a dozen small spiders with one very large spider in their center.

"That's…a big spider…" Yulie said with her legs shaking

"That is a Direspider," Aniya started to say

Before Aniya spoke another word the smaller spiders swarmed them, barely giving them any time to react. Having no choice the three retreated to the previous room and flipped one of the levers closing the door behind them.

"Whoa aggressive aren't they?" Leonard said out of breath

"Yeah, I'm surprised; they aren't like the others we faced thus far." Yulie said equally out of breath

"But we have to go through them to get to the lever…"

"Leonard…" Aniya spoke

"Yeah?" Leonard replied

"Let me borrow your sword temporarily."

"Huh?"

"I can't really help with this weapon that I have now," Aniya said as she held out her own weapon towards him

"Okay…" Leonard said reluctantly and handed her his weapon taking hers in the process

"Thanks."

"Jeez, this thing unbalances you so easily; I don't think I can handle a weapon like this."

"You won't have to."

"What are you going to do Aniya?" Yulie finally asked

"What I do best…" Aniya said as she approached the door, and then added, "Flip the lever…"

"Are you sure?"

"Yes, but back me up just in case."

"Okay…" Leonard said slowly as he approached the lever that they flipped to close the door, and then added, "Ready?"

"Ready…"

With Aniya's word Leonard flipped the lever again and the door opened. Seconds after Aniya closed her eyes and held Leonard's sword close to her face and with a small incantation the sword became two.

"What the-?" Leonard said aloud, but before he could say anything else the smaller spiders came through the door

"Now!" Aniya shouted as she ran towards the spiders a sword in each hand

One spider had jumped at Aniya but before it could get too close she cut it clean in two and upon seeing this the other remaining spiders turned to her seemingly ignoring Yulie and Leonard. Aniya then proceeded to kill the spiders one by one in quick succession, with Yulie and Leonard looking on completely surprised. In the end only two spiders remained and they retreated back into the large room with the Direspider. Partially exhausted Aniya dropped to one knee and the phantom sword she created disappeared, Leonard and Yulie approached Aniya and helped her to her feet. Upon standing up Aniya returned Leonard's sword to him and he returned hers.

"How did you do that?" Leonard asked completely puzzled as to how she used that ability

"I'll tell you later…" Aniya said still partially drained

"Do you need to rest?" Yulie asked concerned

"No I'm good."

"Okay, but don't push yourself."

"Let's rap this up quickly." Leonard said as he readied his Ark

After entering the room once again Leonard transformed into his Knight and quickly killed the remaining small spiders, and then the Direspider with minimal effort. After reverting to his normal self the three flipped the lever and proceeded along the path until they reached an elevator where they found the rest of their friends waiting.

"You're late…" Kara said with a serious face

"Hey! We had to deal with some big monsters" Yulie replied with her hands on her hips

"A Direspider I'm guessing?" Caesar asked

"Uh, yeah…"

"I'm surprised another is there already, usually they don't return for a few more months…"

"So you knew about that monster?" Leonard asked

"Kind of, they make their nests in the reservoir rooms, clearing them out completely has been a hassle."

"Any chance we will encounter more?" Eldore asked

"Possibly, since these guys fought one already."

"So what's next?" Yulie asked changing the subject

"There is one more lever to deal with before we can reach the Demithor's head." Amir said answering Yulie

"Another one?" Yulie said with a sigh

"Let's get going" Eldore commanded

With Eldore's order everyone with the exception of Aniya, who was off to the side and sitting down, got on the Elevator and went up a floor. After everyone left her view Aniya removed parts of her armor and revealed small, but noticeable, marks on her arms and legs and some of the said areas had discoloration.

"Hmph…" Aniya said under her breath as she looked at the marks on her skin

Taking a small knife Aniya held the tip against one of the areas with discoloration, and then with a sharp sigh she thrust the very tip of her knife into her skin. Quickly retracting the blade she squeezed the same area and a small amount of blood came out, however along with it was slight blue tint liquid that appeared to be poison.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"Wait! Hold on a minute!" Kara yelled interrupting the story

"Yes?" Aniya replied calmly

"How did you get poisoned?"

Aniya did not reply, she just looked at Kara who was staring back

"The spiders right?" Cyrus commented

"Exactly…" Aniya replied

"When you fought all those spiders, you must have been hit several times." Eldore added

"Yes, and I was poisoned because of it…"

"But wait didn't you get help from Leonard and Yulie?"

"No…" Aniya paused and then added, "I fought them alone…"

At this point everyone looked at Yulie and Leonard who were silent during this period. After a few moments Leonard was the first to speak.

"I am sorry Aniya…" Leonard started

"I'm sorry too…" Yulie added

"What was done was done…" Aniya replied raising her hand

"So…it was moments like these that fueled your anger…" Eldore commented

"Why didn't you say anything though?" Kara asked

"I didn't think about it much then…" Aniya replied, and then added "It wasn't until later that I knew what REALLY happened, why I didn't receive help…"

"So the picture is becoming clearer." Caesar stated

"That is one way to put it, but moving on…" Aniya started

"I'm sure this isn't the only time something like this happened is it?" Cyrus asked interrupting

"…No, it isn't," Aniya started again, "But enough of that."

Looking at Aniya again after her comments everyone seemed to focus more heavily on what she was saying.

"After I removed the poison I put my armor back on and waited at the elevator for the rest of the party. After we met up again we went down a floor and went to the Demithor's head..."

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Well little buddy your up!" Caesar said to Amir

"Yes Sir!" Amir said with enthusiasm, and then added as he ran towards the Demithor's head, "Stand back! I am going to establish connection!"

After a short wait there was a small rumble as the Demithor moved.

"At last we are moving…" Eldore stated

"It will be some time before we reach Bunker Lode so let's go back upstairs" Caesar stated

"Um…what about Amir? He's not back yet…" Yulie said worriedly

"Don't worry, he may not look it but he can handle himself," Caesar said with a smile, "Let's go!"

The group, minus Amir, returned to the main surface of the city and despite the Demithor's movement the city remained "upright" and did not affect anything, much to the group's surprise. Stepping in front of everyone Caesar started speaking.

"Well, it'll take some time to get to Bunker Lode so let's take some time to relax."

"Hmph…" Kara muttered, "Who put you in charge?"

"Now, now…" Eldore said stopping her

"Grrrr…"

"Where shall we go?" Yulie asked

"I dunno…what do you all want to do?" Caesar asked

The group started talking amongst themselves about what to do in order to pass time whilst Aniya during all of this remained silent. She then turned around and was beginning to walk back towards the underbelly.

"Hey demoness, where you going?"

"Why do you keep calling her that?" Leonard asked to Caesar

"It is because of what I have done…" Aniya replied to Leonard's question as she started walking

"Huh?" Leonard replied looking dumbfounded

Going through the door of the underbelly once again Aniya took a deep breath and began to walk back towards where the golem was. Upon reaching the open room with the golem Aniya took several steps forward and drew her weapon. The golem did not respond to her as it seems that Caesar's last command was still active. Taking several more steps forward Aniya took in a large breath.

"Golem!" Aniya shouted

In response to Aniya the golem began to move and then stood upright yet again.

"Activate training mode!" Aniya shouted again

"Training…mode…active…" the golem replied

With its reply the golem began to move towards Aniya as she readied her weapon.

"Aniya?" came a voice from behind

Aniya turned around to see both Eldore and Yulie standing behind her.

"You don't want to be here, not now…" Aniya warned

"What are you doing?" Yulie asked

"…Training" Aniya said as she faced back towards the golem

"How are you able to control that thing?"

Before Aniya could reply and before another question was asked the golem raised its fist and launched it at the trio. Taken completely off guard Yulie and Eldore could not move in time and feared they would be hit by the projectile, however Aniya stood between them and the impending danger. With a battle cry Aniya swung her weapon as the projectile closed in and caused it, albeit barely, to change course missing the group. Partially out of breath due to her action Aniya turned to face Eldore and Yulie.

"You two need to leave before-" Aniya started to say

Before she could utter another word the door in which they all came through slammed shut, along with all others in the room, sealing them in. With great surprise Yulie ran to the door and attempted to open it but was in vain.

"Great…" Aniya said disappointed

"What's going on?" Yulie asked worriedly

"We can't leave until the golem is defeated, or time runs out…"

"How much time?" Eldore asked

"About…one hour…"

Aniya then pushed Eldore out of the way as the golem launched another attack in his direction, barely missing him and striking the wall.

"We just need to beat it right?" Yulie asked

"It appears so…" Eldore replied

With his words Eldore and Yulie readied their weapons, as they prepared to take on the golem.

"Let's go!" Aniya commanded

With her words Aniya began to move towards the golem and off to its side, Eldore was chanting spells, and Yulie was reading an arrow. Being slow gave the group an advantage as it could not track the entire trio at the same time, but I seemed to focus primarily on Aniya who remained closest. Finishing his chants Eldore had pulled a brick out of the wall and hurled it at the Golem which caused it to stagger for a short period, seeing the opportunity Aniya swung as hard as she could at one of the golem's leg joints, causing it to stagger even further, and finally Yulie had let loose an arrow at the precise point that Aniya had struck and when it did it gave off a very small explosion.

"Yulie!?" Aniya yelled as she moved away slightly from the explosion, "What was that!?"

"Eldore showed me how to enchant my arrows with a little bit of magic" Yulie replied

"I see."

After her words Aniya once again swung her weapon and hit the same joint causing the joint to shatter and the golem fell to the floor. Seeing an opportunity Eldore cast a spell that seemed to chill the area around the golem and shortly afterward was incased in ice. After being frozen the golem seemed to power down and the doors of the room unlocked.

"There…" Eldore spoke and then added "it's over…"

Before anyone could celebrate however the ice around the golem started to crack, and eventually shattered. Much to Yulie's surprise and shock the golem seemed to repair itself, reconnecting its broken joint and then standing up.

"But…how?" Yulie said shocked

Aniya however did not seem to pay the golem any mind as she put away her weapon and began to walk towards Yulie and Eldore. The golem in turn seemed to ignore the group and went back to the center of the room and returned to its dormant state.

"Now, it's over…" Aniya commented

As if she was holding her breath Yulie let out a large sigh of relief and dropped her weapon to her side, and subsequently dropped to the floor seemingly exhausted partially from the shock of the fight. Afterward the door nearest to the trio opened and through it came Caesar followed by Kara and Leonard.

"And that is one reason why she is known as the 'demoness'" Caesar commented, and then added "She took on that golem and lived, almost beating it single handedly in fact."

"One of the reasons?" Eldore asked Caesar then turned toward Aniya and walked over to her and questioned her, "What else are you keeping from us?"

"Nothing of importance…" Aniya replied

"We are supposed to be working together Aniya…"

"I know."

"If you are keeping secrets from us that will impede our journey then-"

"Whoa, whoa, whoa old man, chill out!" Caesar interrupted trying to calm things down

Eldore held a very stern look at Aniya for a short time and afterward walked away towards the rest of the group. Shortly afterward Caesar announced that it was almost time for the Demithor to reach the caverns, and afterwards everyone started to make their way to the surface, however before they left the room Aniya pulled Caesar off to the side.

"Caesar…" Aniya said sternly

"Yes?" Caesar replied

"Stop calling me 'demoness', that is not who I am anymore…"

"But you are so well known for what you did, everyone admires you for it."

"Yes well…just call me Aniya from now on alright?"

"Ok…" Caesar said with a sigh of defeat

With this understanding Caesar with Aniya in tow followed the rest of the group to the surface, where everyone convened another meeting while waiting.

"You know I never did ask," Caesar started first, "Why DO you all need to get to the Bunker Lode Caverns?"

"We need to rescue Princess Cisna of Balandor" Eldore answered

"Oooh, a Princess huh?"

"Yes, we failed before," Leonard added, "We won't this time…"

"So…this Princess…is she a looker?"

Leonard didn't answer nor did the rest of the group, and Caesar took this a sign as going too far.

"Ok, ok, but if that's the case all the more reason to go and for me to help out," Caesar added, "I can never leave a girl in distress."

"Hmph…" Kara said under her breath

"Let's make our way to the station; we can hop on the train to reach the caverns."

"Thanks Caesar, for everything so far" Yulie commented

"No problem, but do you think you guys can clue me in to what happened up to this point, since I wasn't there in the beginning?"

"Of course!"

Caesar was then informed of everything that had transpired from the assault on Balandor with Cisna's abduction, meeting the Black Knight at the Nordia Tunnels, to finally meeting Kara and what happened to her sister.

"Oh man…you all have been through a lot…" Caesar said almost in disbelief

"It all happened…" Aniya added, then looked to Yulie, "Um, Yulie can I have a word in private?"

"Sure…what's wrong?" Yulie said cautiously

Aniya motioned to Yulie to follow her off to the side so the others did not hear their conversation.

"I was wondering something," Aniya started, "Back at the Nordia Tunnels you had to kill a soldier…"

"…Yes" Yulie replied as her head went down slightly

"How did you overcome your fear so fast?"

"Well…" Yulie started, "It was almost like it was natural for me…"

"Natural?"

"Yes, it was like I had done it before, but I know I hadn't…"

"Strange…"

"I know, and I am not the only one either."

"What do you mean?"

"Leonard seems the same way; he told me about what happened when he faced the Black Knight initially that night."

"So he fought that guy before?"

"I wouldn't say 'fought,' it's more like he got in his way…"

"Huh…"

"But anyways he had to actually kill several soldiers on the way to the vault where the Knight was."

Aniya remained silent for a few moments, but as she was about to speak Eldore walked up from behind her, but before any words were spoken there was a small rumble about the area.

"It looks like we are here…" Eldore finally said

"Yeah, ready Yulie?" Aniya added

"Yes, let's go find Princess Cisna!" Yulie answered

Almost as if on cue the train had pulled up at the station and the group boarded it heading to the Bunker Lode Caverns.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"'Natural for me' Yulie?" Cyrus asked

"We are over ten thousand years old after all…" Yulie answered

"What?"

"We haven't reached that point yet, but the infants found in the Dogma Ruins were these people who are before you now" Eldore answered

"I don't believe it…"

"In fact we were supposedly the pact makers of the Knights" Kara added

"So…you all…"

"Yes, we fought, albeit unknowingly in the beginning, in the Dogma Wars over ten thousand years ago in Knight Form…"

"I see, and that is why it seemed 'natural' for you…"

"Yes…"

"Another question: why were you called 'demoness' back then Aniya?" Cyrus asked

"She fought quite literally like a demon when she faced the golem before…" Caesar said answering him

"'Faced the golem before'?"

"I saved several others from the golem during the previous years 'cleaning'" Aniya added, "Those that bore witness said the way I fought was nothing less than unbelievable."

"There is so much I don't know about any of you…" Cyrus replied somewhat shocked

"Come to think of it, towards the end of the Magi War they called you something like that didn't they?" Leonard asked

Aniya remained silent to the question

"We'll get to that part when we get to it Leonard…" Kara commented

"Sorry…"

"In hindsight Aniya I am sorry about accusing you then" Eldore spoke

"It's alright," Aniya replied, "You had good reason to in some ways…"

"So back to the story," Cyrus interrupted, "The Demithor 'docked' with the mining area, and you all went into the caverns to look for the Queen?"

"Yes, it was our 'second' attempt at rescuing the then Princess Cisna…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

As it was everyone's first time going into the area, including Aniya, Caesar led the group through the many twists and turns of the caverns until they reached the main elevator which led to the depths of the mine.

"So what exactly are we looking for in this place?" Yulie started to ask, "How will we find Princess Cisna here?"

"Well there are some ruins in the deep parts of this place; I think that's where we will find your missing lady." Caesar answered, "Although…"

"'Although?'" Eldore repeated slowly

"The is 'dragon territory'"

"Um, we had to fight a dragon recently…" Yulie said sheepishly

"To the dragons it was like losing a brother or sister, and they aren't too happy about it…"

"So you are saying we may have to fight some in here?" Aniya asked

"Exactly, but I'm friends with the dragons so I might be able to avoid a fight, but I wouldn't count on it…"

"I guess we just need to keep a lookout then, huh?" Leonard asked

"Yeah, but before we can use this elevator…"

"More levers?" Aniya asked interrupting

"Yeah, more levers…" Caesar said chuckling

"We don't have time for this…" Eldore said slightly angry

"I know how you feel Eldore, but this is how it has to be…" Leonard said trying to calm him

"Fine," Eldore said relenting, "Where do we find these levers this time?"

"One of them is right above us," Caesar said pointing to a ledge above them, "and another is further down this path."

"Should we split up again?" Yulie asked

"Yeah, it will be faster."

"How will it go this time?" Kara asked

"Let's see…I'll take the demon-," Caesar paused, and then continued "Sorry I mean Aniya, and Kara."

"…Okay" Aniya said as she widened her eyes a little bit at Caesar after he made that little error

"You three can make it up to the ledge by the stairs over there," Caesar said as he pointed again, "It may take us a little time to come around as it is a long way, but if you see a dragon just run."

"Please hurry; we don't know what they are making the princess do…" Leonard said worriedly

"Don't worry I'll see that no harm comes to her."

With his words Caesar followed by Aniya and Kara started down the path to one of the levers that controls the elevator, whereas the other group consisting of Eldore, Leonard and Yulie made their way up a small set of stairs. A short time down the path Caesar's group found themselves up against some strange looking scorpion creatures.

"Nasty ones these little guys…" Caesar said as he looked at the monsters

"Little huh?" Kara remarked see as they are rather large compared to some other monsters they encountered

"I'm gonna need your help with this Aniya"

"What do you mean?" Aniya replied

"That weapon of yours," Caesar said as he remarked at her longsword, "I need you to cut off their tails."

"Got it!"

With Aniya's words she moved into position; however one of the scorpions seemed to predict her movements and got in her way. Taking a swipe at her the scorpion barely missed her, taking a small lock of hair in the process.

"Look out!" Caesar yelled

As Caesar moved to help Aniya he pulled out a small rod, slightly shorter than his arm, and flicked it towards the ground so that it extended to its full length becoming a spear. Jumping slightly into the air and bringing the spear down on the scorpion's head Caesar pinned the scorpion in place, however the tail was still moving and looked like it was about to strike him. At the last second, due to the original plan, Aniya took a swipe at the tail and cut it off in one stroke causing the scorpion to thrash about eventually causing it to die.

"Not bad Aniya" Caesar remarked

"You too Caesar" Aniya replied

"Hey you two, we still have a few more to deal with!" Kara yelled, "Fight now, talk later!"

With her words Caesar and Aniya returned to Kara's side and, almost in the same way, finished off the remaining scorpions. Taking a small breather the trio slowed their pace slightly in order to regain some lost strength, and after a short time reached the lever that they were looking for.

"Well, here it is" Caesar commented

"Good!" Kara said, "Let's pull this and get back…"

"Yeah, I'm worried about the others…" Aniya added

"Oh they can handle themselves I'm sure" Caesar said trying to comfort her

"I know they can but we don't know what is down that elevator," Aniya added, "Knowing Leonard, as impatient as he can be, he probably couldn't wait and went down."

"That is true…" Kara said agreeing, "I am a little worried now too…"

"Ok, ok, we'll hurry back" Caesar said relenting, "Let's get going."

Nodding in agreement the two ladies followed Caesar down more winding tunnels until they reached the ledge that Caesar pointed out when they originally started down the path, and just as Aniya feared the other group was nowhere to be found.

"Damn it Leonard…" Kara said worriedly

"Let's hurry!" Aniya shouted as they pulled the lever on the elevator

As the elevator was on the lower level it took a short while before it reached their level again. Stepping on the elevator as it showed up, the trio made their way down to the lower level following their other comrades. As the elevator approached the lower level Caesar's group noticed Leonard's fighting a dragon, red in color.

"Leonard!" Kara shouted

"Hey!" Leonard shouted back

As the elevator reached the floor the trio made their way over to the rest of their group, and on the way noticed some dead Magi soldiers on the way. Upon reaching Leonard Kara was the first to reprimand him.

"You should have waited Leonard!" Kara said as she readied her weapon

"Sorry but you know me, beside we wasted too much time…" Leonard said in defense

"Grrrr…"

"First things first people," Eldore said interrupting, "We need to deal with this dragon…"

"I don't think I can talk our way out of this," Caesar commented, "It looks REALLY angry, and I don't think because of us…"

"Yeah when we got here it was fighting the Magi, and after it was done with them it turned on us!" Yulie commented

"I see."

"Hmmm, I have an idea…" Aniya said as she moved closer to Caesar

"What's up Aniya?" Caesar asked

"Do you think you can get me above the dragon's head?"

"Maybe…what is your plan?"

Aniya paused and looked around a little bit and noticed a shield next to one of the dead Magi soldiers and rushed to pick it up. Moving back to Caesars side and dodging some of the dragon's attacks she handed the shield to Caesar.

"I see!" Caesar said as he figured out her plan just from the shield alone

As the dragon was fighting the others Kara and Eldore were knocked down with the former hanging off the ledge that lead into the abyss.

"Kara!" Leonard yelled as he rushed to her and tried to help her up

From behind the dragon prepared to breath fire on Leonard and Kara, but before it could Aniya drove her weapon into the dragon's back redirecting its breath in a different direction. Leonard noticed after he helped Kara back up, that Caesar must have spring boarded her high enough so that she could strike the beasts back.

"You alright!?" Aniya yelled still with her weapon in the dragon's back

"We're fine!" Kara yelled back, then to Leonard "Thank you Leonard…"

"No problem!" Leonard replied, "We are friends and comrades after all!"

Kara seemed to blush a little at this comment and looked to the ground slightly, almost guiltily.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"So, that is when you started to rethink working for Grazel and the Magi Kara?" Eldore spoke

"Yes," Kara said with her eyes down

"Considering what we have been through and what we fought even enemies can become friends" Aniya commented

"Well said!" Cyrus added

"Seeing as that was the first time fighting a dragon without the Knights it was pretty intense" Yulie commented

"Yeah it really was," Leonard added, "But anyways after we defeated that dragon finally…"

"Yes…we went further in and came upon what looked like a decrepit castle built into the mountain, and in front of it Belcitane and Shapur along with a small contingent of Magi were waiting for us…" Aniya said continuing

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Cisna I'm here!" Leonard yelled

"Leonard!" Cisna yelled back

"Bah…must you show up RIGHT in the nick of time?" Belcitane said angrily, "I must say you are becoming quite a cliché…"

"You won't get away this time!" Leonard yelled again this time at Belcitane

"This guy is with the Magi huh?" Caesar commented, then sarcastically "Really digging his haircut…"

"Another friend huh?" Belcitane added noticing Caesar

"You know you are wasting your time searching these ruins?" Eldore commented

"We're waiting not searching…"

"Hmmm, he knows…" Eldore said under his breath

"Why wait? We'll deal with you right now!" Leonard said angrily as he readied his weapon

"You'll help us pass the time?" Belcitane replied as he readied his own weapon and some of the soldiers behind him stepped forward

In response to Belcitane and the soldiers, and following Leonard's lead, the rest of the group readied their weapons in preparation for battle.


	10. Face of the Enemy

Chapter 10: Face of the Enemy

The battle started off rather quickly as Leonard rushed in foolishly, clashing slightly with the soldiers, and attempted to get Cisna back as she was still being held by one of the soldiers, however Belcitane himself stood in front of him and with a small wave of his hand blew Leonard back and onto the ground with a small wind spell.

"Ah, ah, ah…" Belcitane taunted

"Grrrr, damn you…" Leonard said in frustration as he got up helped by Caesar

"You've gotta slow down Leonard," Caesar pleaded

After Leonard's attempt the soldiers that were between the group and Cisna closed the distance between them in order to prevent Leonard's action again.

"Me and Caesar will take the big guy," Leonard started, "the rest of you take on the soldiers."

"Got it!" Yulie replied

"Hmmm, understood," Eldore added

"Be careful though…" Kara warned, "these soldiers are…different from the ones we faced so far…"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Aniya asked

To this question Kara did not answer instead just raised her weapon in preparation for combat.

"Ok…"

Everyone in the group, excluding Caesar and Leonard, started to spread out effectively surrounding Belcitane and his soldiers; seeing this the soldiers moved, with the exception of the soldier holding Cisna herself, to block the group so that is was one on one. With the soldiers out of the way Caesar and Leonard moved to combat Belcitane himself; however he did not seem the least bit worried as he got into his own stance with a staff in hand.

"We will save you this time Cisna!" Leonard declared

Belcitane just laughed at Leonard as though it was a joke

Off to the side Aniya noticed there were three soldiers along with a young man with horns on his head that seemed to only be watching the battle unfold and did not seem to be taking part. The young man however seemed to have his eyes fixed on one person in particular, but before she could see exactly who one of the soldiers took a swipe at her with their sword.

"Whoa!" Aniya said under her breath as she barely blocked the sword in time

Before Aniya could retaliate the soldier took one hand off the weapon they were holding and backhanded her effectively knocking her back and dazing her slightly. Taking advantage of this the soldier moved to attack her again, however, albeit luckily, Aniya was able to dodge the incoming strike and after which took a swipe with her own weapon. However, as Aniya's weapon was large and somewhat hard to control, the strike was slow and the soldier easily dodged the attack and stood back away her, and remained for a short period before starting to speak.

"These are the people that are causing problems for our master?" the soldier commented

"Huh?" Aniya replied puzzled

The soldier moved toward Aniya once again; however the movements were slightly different than before as the soldier zigzagged towards her effectively preventing Aniya from expecting how the attack would come. After getting close enough, surprisingly, the soldier did not attack but rather stopped only a foot away from Aniya herself and stood there.

"What are you doing!?" Aniya asked completely confused

There was no answer to Aniya's question; however the soldier raised one hand and took off their helmet and revealed the face of who she was fighting. Similar to the young man back in Balandor, this soldier was near the same age as she but this time Aniya was facing the same gender.

"A girl?" Aniya said under her breath

Catching her off guard again the female soldier swung her weapon towards Aniya who was barely able to dodge a fatal blow despite the close proximity; however she was nicked in her sword arm causing her to drop her weapon. Weaponless Aniya stood against the female soldier who did not move from the spot where she swung her weapon at Aniya. Looking down at Aniya's weapon the soldier pondered something for a moment then moved one of her feet towards the large blade, and proceeded to kick the weapon in Aniya's direction.

"Why?" Aniya asked completely confused

Again the soldier did not answer but raised one hand and moved one finger in a "come on" motion, effectively taunting Aniya. Picking up her weapon, and somewhat upset at the taunt, Aniya assumed her stance and prepared to do combat again. The female soldier lowered her weapon slightly, confusing Aniya, but seeing an opportunity launched an attack at the woman; however the soldier simply moved out of the way seemingly dodging Aniya's weapon effortlessly. As though toying with her after dodging the soldier placed her weapon on Aniya's shoulder with the point of it at her neck, effectively having her at her mercy; but the soldier did not kill Aniya rather once again struck her with her fist, knocking her back again.

"Grrr…Damn you…" Aniya said angrily

Frustrated at this point Aniya started to swing her weapon at the female soldier, whom dodged her attacks again and again. A short time of this and the soldier seemingly started to grow bored, and after one of her dodges struck Aniya in the shoulder causing her to drop her weapon again, however she did not stop with one attack, rather made several more swipes at the weaponless girl. The attacks the soldier did were not fatal however did cause major pain to Aniya; the slashes caused cuts on both her arms, legs, and several on her torso causing her to fall to the ground and cry in pain; and through all of this the soldier seemed to be smiling.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"…It was then where my skill was truly apparent…" Aniya said

"So…back then you were almost killed?" Cyrus asked

"Yes…"

"What about everyone else?"

Aniya paused for a moment as she looked around the room at everyone and then started to speak again.

"Leonard and Caesar were handling Belcitane and did not notice me; Yulie was barely holding her own, whereas Eldore and Kara did not seem to have too much of an issue with their opponents…"

"I see…"

"But luckily in my case…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

The female soldier was slowly walking towards Aniya, who was crawling away very slowly, almost as if savoring the kill to come. After coming within a certain range the woman started to raise her weapon for the killing blow, knowing she could not defend herself anymore Aniya closed her eyes and waited for the deathblow. However the weapon did not strike Aniya, rather she heard the sound of metal on metal and opened her eyes to find that the female soldiers sword was blocked by another. Looking to her side Aniya saw Kara defending her with her own sword, and looking back to where Kara's original opponent was she saw that one dead on the ground.

"Hurry and move!" Kara yelled

"Uh…right!" Aniya replied

Kara then pushed the soldier back several feet and got between Aniya and her opponent.

"Hurry and heal up!" Kara yelled again

Doing as she was told Aniya ran off to the side as Kara and the soldier started to do battle. Using the spell she learned from Eldore Aniya started healing the wounds that were inflicted by her opponent.

"_I don't believe it…"_ Aniya thought to herself, _"How weak I am…"_

"Aniya!" Yulie called out

"Yulie?" Aniya replied

"Are you okay!?"

"Kinda…" Aniya spoke, and then thought to herself _"I would have died if Kara didn't intervene..."_

Looking around again Eldore had finished with his opponent and started assisting Yulie with hers, and shortly thereafter finished them off, almost immediately afterward Kara finished off Aniya's opponent, leaving only Belcitane. Taking a short breather and going to back up Leonard and Caesar, who were still battling Belcitane himself, the group, minus Aniya, started to gather.

"Heh, looks like you're all along now baldy!" Caesar said mocking Belcitane

"Oh? Am I now?" Belcitane answered cockily

Looking over to the young man again Aniya noticed that two of the soldiers had left his side and started walking towards Belcitane, Leonard and Caesar. As they were walking they pulled out cards, blue in color, not unlike what the group saw at the desert ruins.

"Look out!" Aniya shouted

As Aniya tried to warn everyone the two soldiers spoke the incantation and in their place after a bright flash of light, were two Gigas.

"Grrr…damn…" Eldore grumbled under his breath

Finally finishing with healing herself Aniya went to grab her weapon in attempt to assist with the two Gigas, however where Leonard was standing she saw another flash of light in his place stood his Knight, thereby leveling the playing field somewhat. Looking again to where the young man was Aniya finally was able to see who exactly he had fixed his eye upon.

"Kara?" Aniya said under her breath as she found out who the man was looking at

Looking back over to the rest of the group Aniya noticed that the battle was not going well for Leonard, even though he was in his Knight form. Unlike the previous times they fought the Gigas these ones seemed more "intelligent" as they surrounded Leonard, timed their attacks with Belcitane's magic, and simply swatted away the rest of the group as if they were flies. Seeing this Aniya slowly started to make her way over to the rest of the group weapon in hand, building up momentum she went into a dead sprint toward one of the Gigas. Raising her weapon so that it was in front of her she plunged the sword into the Gigas' leg causing it to stagger and cry in pain, and seeing this moment Leonard swung at the monster and took off its head.

"Thanks Aniya!" Leonard called out

"Sure, no pro-"

Aniya's words were cut short as she was blasted by a strong wind spell, much stronger than anything she witnessed, causing her to be flung across the room. Looking at Belcitane she noticed that he had his focus on her as he started to chant a spell, and as he chanted her sword, which was still imbedded in the leg of the dead Gigas, started to move and ended up being pointed at her. Staggering to her feet after the attack Aniya was still a little bit sluggish and did not believe she could dodge what was coming, and such was preparing herself, similarly to when she faced the soldier, to die. However as the weapon started toward Aniya Belcitane's concentration was broken by Eldore who cast several spells of his own, and caused the sword to fall and embed itself in the ground slightly.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"That must have been one hell of a fight," Cyrus commented

"Indeed it was…" Aniya replied, "Back then I was very weak and so I wasn't much help…"

"Actually you were Aniya," Leonard interrupted, "if you hadn't done what you did I don't think we would have survived."

"_Oh, you would have…trust me…"_ Aniya thought to herself

"Baldy was quite the mage though, who would have thunk it?" Caesar commented

"Indeed…" Aniya replied, "come to think of it I didn't thank you back then did I Kara? For saving me I mean."

"Oh…um…I don't think so…" Kara replied, "But it's not needed, I knew you were thankful, I just never gave you the chance back then."

"I am wondering Kara," Cyrus interrupted, "why did that man have his focus on you?"

"Oh, it was because I was supposed to have killed Leonard…" Kara replied slowly, "And up that point I had not succeeded even though I had so many chances…"

Cyrus did not reply

"But that was then…" Aniya added, "This is now…"

"Yeah, so let's continue shall we?" Caesar asked

"Yes…" Aniya replied, "Skipping ahead to after the fall of the second Gigas and Leonard reverted back to his human form…"

…

**~PAST~**

…

"Looks like you're all alone now baldy!" Caesar said with a smile

Gathering together again the group, except for Aniya, slowly closed in on Belcitane; however before they could get any closer everyone turned their eyes toward the crack in the ceiling as they heard a loud roar and saw a silhouette of a dragon.

"Ah!" Belcitane chuckled, "Time's up!"

The dragon knocked some stone onto the area and barely missed Cisna and Belcitane. Quickly retreating with Cisna Belcitane, along with the soldier still holding her, teleported away, and shortly after a very large "armored" dragon, slightly bigger than the one the group faced in Flandar Trail, landed in the room, landed in the room facing Leonard and the rest.

"Um…this is bad…" Caesar commented

"No kidding!" Yulie replied, "What do we do?"

"She seems to be in a frenzy…" Eldore replied, and then added "There is nothing we can do except face her and try to calm her down."

"I will KILL those who slew my child!" the Dragon spoke

"It…can talk?" Yulie asked

"Yes, although it is using the Knight as a medium to speak…" Eldore replied

"What do you mean?" Leonard asked

"She is known as the 'Dragon Matriarch' …" Eldore replied, "And she is possessed by the Dragon Knight."

"So…the dragon on the trail that we faced…"

"Yes…"

"But we didn't kill that dragon! The Black Knight did!"

"It doesn't matter…it is all the same to her…"

Before anyone could get another word out the dragon started attacking the group, while barely giving anyone time to breath. In the back Aniya couldn't believe what was happening, the fact that they all had to face so much in so little time was draining. Walking up and gathering her weapon yet again Aniya went next to Eldore as everyone was spread out again and he was the closest.

"Any Ideas on how to calm her down Eldore?" Aniya asked, "It doesn't look like we can get close enough to even land a hit…"

"True…and it doesn't look like Leonard will have enough time to summon his knight again…" Eldore replied, "But we have to try our best regardless…"

After his speech Eldore started chanting a spell, and as he did colored orbs, one red and two yellow, started to orbit him. As he finished the spell the orbs started to glow brighter and brighter until it was blinding and they finally disappeared, then Eldore spoke one word.

"Me…te…or…"

After saying the word a massive ball of earth, enveloped by flames, appeared over the dragon herself and fell upon her causing an explosion that staggered her, however as a result Eldore fell to the ground exhausted as the spell seemed to drain him almost completely. Looking to over where the dragon was the spell, while it did stagger her, did not seem to do any damage and it seemed the dragon was looking towards Aniya and Eldore.

"Uh…oh…" Aniya said under her breath

The dragon reared back, seemingly preparing to breath fire at the duo, however as she was about to breath Leonard, in his Knight form again, stood between them and managed to deflect the attack with his shield. After finishing her attack and after Leonard regained his stance the Dragon looked upon the Knight and seemed to regain her senses somewhat as she stopped her rampage and looked at Caesar himself.

"What is she doing?" Yulie asked

"Ugh…" Eldore grunted as he sat up, "It seems…she realizes we are not the enemy…"

"The death of my child made be blind with grief and rage…" the dragon spoke, "I did not realize I was attacking the one I was destined to serve…"

"The one…who is to receive the Dragon's Ark…" Eldore said as he got up helped by Aniya

"You mean…Caesar?" Aniya asked

"Well, what do you know?" Caesar said as he chuckled

"Well…" Belcitane said as he reappeared along with Cisna "That did not quite go as I had planned…"

"You!" Leonard said angrily

"But that's alright…" Belcitane continued ignoring Leonard and pulling out a black card, "I have a Gigas, one that puts your oversized lizard to shame…"

"What?" Eldore said surprised

"Come forth, Sargatanas! Adveni!"

Where Belcitane was standing a bright flash of light erupted from him, much brighter than any of the other Gigas transformations the group witnessed thus far. In his place stood a Gigas that seemed half-man, half-spider, and without missing a beat fired a blast toward the dragon which was easily blocked, however immediately after when the dragon lowered her guard another blast struck her knocking her back several dozen feet. Regaining herself the dragon took one step back with one of her hind legs and seemingly stepped on something as a flash of light erupted from where she stepped.

"No! A trap!" Eldore shouted

As Eldore spoke a very powerful spell surrounded the dragon and seemingly caused a massive amount of pain and caused her to fall to the ground. Running over to her side Caesar tried to comfort her.

"Heh, gotcha!" Belcitane said triumphantly

"Hey! You're going to be alright, hang in there!" Caesar said worriedly

"I…" the dragon started to speak, "I have…kept this power safe…for countless years…waiting to return it to you…"

"Return it to me?"

"Now…that time has come…take it…my child…"

With her words the dragon disappeared in a bright light and ascended to the sky only to return to where Caesar was standing, and into his hand was place the Dragon's Ark which was in the shape of a belt, but had the look of the Dragon Matriarch.

"This is the Dragon's Ark…"

"Use it wisely…" came a voice from the dragon's soul manifesting itself in front of Caesar, "Power such as this can wreak great destruction…but can also be used for good."

With her final words the Dragon Matriarch's soul disappeared.

"You bore your burden well…I'll watch over the Ark now…" Caesar commented as he clutched the Ark to his chest

Almost as if on cue Cisna started to chant once again as she did at the desert ruins, and as she did a purple like light surrounded Caesar, and almost as if he was given insight on the situation Caesar gave a slight nod.

"What did she do!?" Belcitane questioned Caesar

"Hey, baldy!" Caesar shouted, "If you got any last words I suggest you say them!"

"Little brat! You can be the first to die!"

With his words Belcitane swung at Caesar angrily but Caesar dodge without much effort

"Too slow baldy! Now it's my turn!"

With Caesar's declaration he focused his mind into the Ark and seemingly threw it in front of him, however it did not fall, rather the Ark itself encircled him as he spoke an incantation:

O, Larvayne vermillion drake...  
Leveler of Ancient Lands…Grant me your power!  
…VERTO!

As Caesar finished the Ark surrounded his waist and the "teeth" of the Ark clamped down and connected the belt together. As it did a purple light, similar to when Cisna did her chanting, surrounded Caesar and shortly afterward he disappeared and in his place stood the Dragon Knight in its full glory wielding a spear.

"Him? …Why him?" Kara said to herself

"Hmmm?" Aniya replied as she heard, albeit barely, Kara's words

"Wow…Caesar…" Yulie said in awe

"Now, bring it on!" Caesar said taunting Belcitane

Belcitane growled as he charged toward Caesar, missing him completely on the first swing with his fists. Off to the side the rest of the group moved off to the side in order to stay out of the way and heal wounds. Back to the fight Belcitane could not land a single hit on Caesar in his Dragon Knight Form.

"Heh, too slow big guy!"

"Grrrr, damn you!" Belcitane said in anger

Finally going on the offensive Caesar tripped one of Belcitane's legs causing him to fall, despite having six legs in his Gigas form; however this caused Caesar to be somewhat careless and was struck by Belcitane's tale knocking him down. Grinning with excitement Belcitane took the chance and rushed at Caesar after getting up himself, however this appeared to be nothing but a ploy as Caesar jumped up and took to the sky much to everyone's surprise. After a few seconds the weapon in Caesar's hand started to glow and after a short pause threw it at Belcitane and as it got closer split into several and pierced several parts of his body causing him to cry in pain.

"Whoa!" Yulie said in awe

"Incredible…" Eldore added

"How's that baldy?" Caesar said as he returned to the ground and returned his weapon to his hand

"I…I…I will KILL you!" Belcitane yelled in anger

"Sorry, but the only one here that will die…is YOU!" Caesar yelled as he rushed at Belcitane

Seemingly surprised and still hurting from the previous attack Belcitane was unable to move and subsequently received several blows from Caesar's weapon. As a result of the blows Belcitane reverted back to his human form severely drained, and Caesar returned to his own form.

"B-But..how?" Belcitane said still in pain

"Because I busted your ass that's how," Caesar said in reply

"Bah!" Belcitane growled as he got up and readied his weapon

Just before Belcitane could chant a spell a spear made of energy pierced his chest, while the group look on in surprise and horror.

"A shameful performance…" the young man finally spoke

"My Lord Shapur…why?" Belcitane asked in disbelief, "You would defy our master's orders?"

"Quite the contrary…I serve them," the young man, now revealed to be Shapur, replied "You have failed our master for the last time…"

"What? B-but Lord Shapur!"

Shapur did not speak rather he turned around and started to cast a spell as the spear that had struck Belcitane finally consumed him, reducing him to ashes.

"L-Leonard!" Cisna cried out

"No! You won't get away this time!" Leonard yelled as he charged towards Shapur

However the young man did not turn around completely rather turned his head and smiled at Leonard rather mockingly. Just before Leonard could reach them Shapur, along with Cisna, disappeared and an airship, that was out of sight up this point, departed the cavern.

"No!" Leonard said angrily as he fell to his knees and struck the ground with his fist

Trying to comfort him Yulie went to his side and knelt beside him.

"Dammit…that makes two times we have failed…" Eldore commented

"This power…" Caesar started to comment, "This is what that group is after? I can see now why they want it…"

"Be careful, don't be consumed by it…" Eldore spoke to Caesar

"Consumed?"

Seeing no options at this point the group, after regaining themselves, returned to Greede and to Count Drisdall's manor. Upon entry the house steward ran up to Caesar and grabbed him at the shoulders, this act however caused Caesar to shudder slightly, and afterward the steward informed Caesar of his father.

"What's going on?" Aniya asked

"Hmmm, let's go into the guest room and wait for Caesar," Eldore ordered

"Alright…"

"Please follow me…" the steward ordered

Following the steward the group, minus Caesar, was led to the guest room where they stayed before and finally having a chance to talk normally Aniya went up to Kara.

"Hey Kara?" Aniya started

"Yes?" Kara replied as she turned her head to Aniya

"I just wanted to say tha-"

"Now we are even…" Kara said interrupting her

"Huh?"

"You saved me, and then I saved you."

"Uh…right…"

Afterward Aniya put a small distance between herself and Kara as she felt some sort of animosity coming from her. After a short wait Caesar came into the room with some tears in his eyes and informed the group of his father's passing. After calming down somewhat Caesar also mentioned that he has a lead on where to go next when it came to the Knights: a man named Medius who lived in Balandor.

"We should be going then…" Eldore commanded

"Yeah, no telling if the enemy already knows about Medius or if they even already have him." Leonard added agreeing

"Slow down guys!" Caesar said interrupting the momentum, "We just went through hell, don't you think you should rest a bit first?"

"No, because we need to rescue Cisna a quickly as possible!" Leonard replied angrily

"Calm down Leonard…" Yulie said trying to lower the anger in the room, "Besides we don't know where they are or where they took her."

"Hmmm, agreed…" Eldore added, "It seems this Medius may be our only course at the time, as the trail has gone cold…"

"…Fine," Leonard said relenting

"Good, I'll have rooms prepared for you guys just wait here for a bit longer," Caesar said as he walked out of the room

Still somewhat angry Leonard sat down in a huff and waited for Caesar's return.

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"So…a second failure…" Cyrus commented

"Yes, we weren't prepared…" Eldore replied

"We fought hard, but it still wasn't enough…" Yulie also added

"So what was that spell you used Eldore?" Cyrus asked, "The one that drained you?"

"'Combination Magic,'" Eldore replied, "similar to, but much stronger, than the one Aniya used on her legs here."

"I see…"

"Very costly as well…" Aniya added, "It can drain your stamina as it takes a lot of concentration."

"You used such a spell against Madoras too didn't you Aniya?" Kara asked

"Yes…one of the forbidden ones…"

"Forbidden?" Cyrus asked

"There are four 'forbidden' spells," Eldore started to explain, "each one requires your life energy to cast."

"Uh…" Cyrus replied shocked

"But enough of that, it is getting somewhat late," Kara added

"Indeed, we should continue this in the morning," Eldore said in agreement

"Yes…" Aniya started, "But Yulie, Leonard can you stay for a little bit longer?"

"Um, sure…" Yulie replied

"Yeah…" Leonard replied also in agreement

With that everyone except for Yulie and Leonard left the room and after the door closed Aniya started to speak again.

"Now-" Aniya started

"I know what you are going to say Aniya," Yulie interrupted, "about what happened that evening between Leonard and me."

Aniya merely chuckled at this as she began to speak again

…

**~PAST~**

…

~That Evening~

Aniya was walking around the manor contemplating the previous battle as well as her weaknesses. After a short while she came across one of the many balconies overlooking the city of Greede itself and heard the voices of Leonard and Yulie. Putting her back to the wall nearest the entrance in order to stay in the shadows she listened to the two talk.

"…I've never missed anyone the way I miss her…" Leonard spoke

"No one?" Yulie replied then chuckled, "Not even me?"

"But I see you all the time."

"Really? 'Cause it seems like you kinda don't…"

"Don't be silly…" Leonard paused, and then added, "You know, when I was younger I met her before?"

"You did?"

"Yeah…she was smiling a lot then, but when we saw her at the ball she seemed so sad…"

"I see…"

"I'll never forget it…" Leonard paused again, "I just wanted to do something about it, you know?"

"Must be nice…to be a princess…" Yulie replied solemnly as she put her head down

"I'm sorry I know I must sound weird…"

"Whatever…you've always been weird…" Yulie said as she got back to her normal self, and then added "How about we get back to sleep huh? It is pretty late."

"Yeah…sounds good…"

Yulie started walking away only to turn around one last time to look at Leonard who was still looking over the City of Greede. Continuing to walk out of the area, and as she turned to go up a set of stairs, Aniya saw that Yulie had some tears in her eyes.

"Oh…Yulie…" Aniya said under her breath

…

**~PRESENT~**

…

"I didn't want everyone else to hear this," Aniya commented, "not after what I had said before when we had first entered the desert."

"Yeah, that was kind of embarrassing…" Yulie replied

Aniya looked at Leonard who was looking at the ground with a guilty look upon his face

"Oh, well I just wanted to say this without everyone else here…a time will come later I suppose…"

"Yeah, just not yet…" Leonard finally replied

"Huh?" Yulie questioned, "A time for what?"

Aniya and Leonard looked at Yulie at the same time, and silently she knew what they were talking about.

"We'll see you in the morning Aniya," Leonard said as he started to walk away

"Yeah, see you bright and early!" Yulie said agreeing as she followed Leonard

Aniya waved as the two left the room, and after they closed the door she lifted her legs back onto the bed and prepared to go sleep. A short time later, after she blew out the candle that illuminated the room, she closed her eyes and fell into a deep sleep.

~Later that Night~

After being asleep for several hours the Ark that had been resting on the nightstand nearest Aniya started to glow eerily. Aniya had opened her eyes but found herself in the same area that Eldore had found her before when he rescued her. The only difference is that Aniya was standing up without the "braces" that she had put on herself to help her walk.

"This place?" Aniya said to herself, "Why?"

"It is almost time…" came a disembodied voice

Looking around for where the voice came from she noticed a silhouetted figure off into the distance and walked toward it. As she got closer she slowly came to the realization of who it was.

"Dels?"

"Ah…so you are here…" Dels replied

"Why are you here?"

Dels did not reply, he however started to chuckle until it turned into laughter

"What's so funny?"

After her question Dels stopped laughing and turned serious

"You stopped me before…" Dels finally answered

"What are you-"

"But you will not do so again!" Dels continued interrupting her although somewhat angrier

"Dels please tell me what is going on?" Aniya said pleadingly, "What are you talking about?"

Dels started laughing again and with a bright flash of light Madoras' Knight appeared in front of her.

"No! We defeated you!"

There was no reply as the Knight raised its weapon and brought it down on Aniya's head, and just before she was struck by the weapon she woke up in a scream and in a cold sweat. A maid who was by her side fell backwards onto the floor as she was completely shocked at how Aniya woke up. Looking around and realizing it was morning Aniya calmed down slightly but was still worried at the dream she had.

"It can't be…" Aniya said to herself

"Miss Aniya?" the maid asked as she got up, "Is something wrong? Do you need me to get the doctor?"

"No, I'm fine…" Aniya said aloud, and then thought to herself _"At least I think so…"_

Looking over at the Ark Aniya noticed that it was faintly glowing still.

* * *

**A/N:** I do apologize for the long wait between chapters for those that are waiting patiently for each one. Real life sucks. But anyways please be sure to give a review be it bad or good so that I know what needs improving. All are welcome.


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